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Message for the Council of Europe’s Europe Day
For 5 May, the Council of Europe’s Europe Day, the President of the Swiss Confederation publishes a written message. He recalls the founding of the organisation in 1949, Switzerland’s accession in 1963 and the place of the European Convention on Human Rights, “a major pillar of the European legal system”.
The text does not hide the difficulties: the corruption allegations against the Parliamentary Assembly, polarisation, states that apply the Court’s judgments only selectively or use their contributions as a means of pressure. The Federal Council supports the reforms under way and rejects the initiative “Swiss law instead of foreign judges”. International law, he writes, “protects small states by obliging the larger ones to respect rules defined in common”.
Speeches on this site
- Message pour la Journée de l’Europe du Conseil de l’Europe (French-language page)
Sources