Speeches
Diplomatic Conference on the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine
16 December 2025 — World Forum, The Hague · It is a great pleasure and a great honour for me to open this conference with you this morning. It is also a great pleasure – and a great honour – to do so here in the Netherlands. Thank you very much for the strong partnership. *** On a February morning almost four years ago, Russia chose war. A war of aggression. Ukraine did not choose this war.
Informal ministerial conference – Ministers of Justice
10 December 2025 — Strasbourg · Delegates. Thank you for accepting my invitation to initiate discussions on migration and the European Convention on Human Rights here at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. This is something I have called for since nine member States issued a joint open letter last May challenging the interpretation of the Convention on this pressing issue.
Nordic Baltic Youth Summit – Opening Ceremony
28 November 2025 — Hanaholmen, Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre Espoo (Finland) · Hanaholmen CEO Kronman Secretary General Ellemann Ambassador Paukkunen-Mykkänen, Dear participants, Hyvät ystävät, hyvät kuulijat, tchära vänner, It is an honour to address the Nordic Baltic Youth Summit. I want to thank the Finnish National Youth Council and the Youth Sector for bringing the Council of Europe into this important conversation.
The New Democratic Pact for Europe Kick-off Debate
27 November 2025 — Finland · It is a pleasure to join you at the Parliament of Finland to discuss foresight and democracy. Here, foresight is much more than a tool. It is a systematic way of analysing risks, testing assumptions, and bringing long-term thinking into the heart of public decision-making. This experience is unique in Europe. And we have much to learn from it.
Opening of the Headquarters Eurocorps Human Security Seminar
18 November 2025 — European Parliament, Strasbourg · Acknowledgments Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to join so many members and experts from Eurocorps, the European Union, NATO, academia, and civil society here at the European Parliament for this seminar. I want to thank Ms Fabienne Keller and Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz for the invitation. It is an important moment to bring the Council of Europe into this conversation.
World Forum for Democracy
5 November 2025 — Strasbourg · INTRODUCTION Yesterday marked seventy-five years of the European Convention on Human Rights. A reminder of what our parents and grandparents built. Their world is almost gone. The new order is still waiting to be imagined. More and more voices are saying. “Democracy is too slow.” “Things are too complicated.” “Maybe it’s time for someone to take control.”
Solemn ceremony
4 November 2025 — Strasbourg (Hearing Room 1, European Court of Human Rights) · GREETINGS President of the European Court of Human Rights, President of the Republic of Malta, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Judges, Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, INTRODUCTION It is with great emotion that I join you here at the Court to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Lecture at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna
30 October 2025 — Vienna (Austria) · Ich möchte auf Deutsch beginnen, um der Diplomatischen Akademie Wien, dem österreichischen Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten sowie der Central European University für diese Einladung zu danken. Es ist mir eine Ehre, an einer Institution zu sprechen, die so tief in der Geschichte Europas und der Welt verwurzelt ist.
Address to the OSCE Permanent Council
30 October 2025 — Vienna (Austria) · Madame Chair of the Permanent Council, Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the OSCE, Mari Neuvonen Ambassadors, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the invitation. It is an honour to address the OSCE Permanent Council. The Council of Europe was created to ensure that peace in Europe rests on strong democratic institutions, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Council of Europe’s 2024 North-South Prize Award Ceremony
29 October 2025 — Lisbon (Portugal) · It is an honour to be here with you today in Lisbon for this ceremony. É um prazer especial fazer a minha primeira visita oficial a Portugal como Secretário-Geral do Conselho da Europa. In just a few days, we will mark seventy-five years of the European Convention on Human Rights. A milestone for our continent. And our North Star as we navigate what I have called a “perfect storm.”
49th session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
28 October 2025 — Hemicycle, Palais de l’Europe (Strasbourg) · SALUTATIONS Monsieur le Président, Mesdames et Messieurs les membres du Congrès, Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs, INTRODUCTION Ce n’est pas à vous qui êtes au plus près du terrain que je dois rappeler tous les défis qui nous attendent. Vous les vivez chaque jour dans vos villes, vos écoles, vos hôpitaux. Partout où la démocratie prend vie.
Launch of Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation CMRec(2024) to member States on the Equality of Rights of Intersex Persons
27 October 2025 — Strasbourg · Welcome! This room has witnessed important moments in history. And today, we make history together. For the first time, all forty-six member States of the Council of Europe have said with one voice: Intersex persons are entitled to the same rights, dignity, and opportunities as everyone else. It was unanimous. In today’s world, unanimity is rare.
Council of Europe Conference on the Protection of Health
15 October 2025 — Strasbourg · Five years ago, Europe and the whole world fell silent. Streets emptied. Hospitals overflowed. And fear became contagious. As Minister for Public Health in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic, I saw how quickly systems can unravel. How everything we take for granted in our societies and in our lives depends on the protection of health.
Ceremony for the 35th Anniversary of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe
11 October 2025 — Sala dello Scrutinio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy · Thirty-five years ago, in the Eternal City, Europe made a bold but necessary decision. To create an impartial advisory body to bring constitutions into dialogue. Across borders. Above divisions. And to do it in the only place it could be done: the Council of Europe. At first, there was resistance. Making history never comes easy.
Youth Event: Youth proposals for the New Democratic Pact
8 October 2025 — Malta · Ambassador Francesca Camilleri Vettiger Excellencies, Dear young delegates, Across Europe, people are angry. Angry as they watch democracy chipped away, the rule of law ignored, human rights treated with contempt. People are also afraid. Afraid because they feel excluded from the decisions shaping their future. And because they no longer recognize the world they live in.
Lecture at the University of Malta
8 October 2025 — Malta · [Opening] When I look around this hall, I see history. This university’s roots reach back to the sixteenth century. It has stood through the rise and fall of empires. It has endured siege and bombardment. And it has seen Malta take its place in the family of the Council of Europe sixty years ago. That is perspective. And perspective is what I want to speak about today.
Lecture at Copenhagen University
3 October 2025 — Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Denmark) · [Opening] I don’t know if, like me, you are a fan of Borgen. That great Danish TV drama about politics. Each episode begins with a quote. Here is one my favourites: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.” It comes from Søren Kierkegaard, a son of this city. This is Europe’s dilemma today. To take risks and face uncertainty.
The Age of Democratic Security: A conversation with Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe
25 September 2025 — Rotunda, Low Memorial Library, Columbia University (New York) · [OPENING] We think we know democracy. We are wrong. I learned that recently at a meeting of world leaders in Kazakhstan. When it was over, one head of state turned to me and said: “You were the only one to speak about democracy.” I said: “I see, but why?” Then, almost casually: “That word? It’s become woke.” This says more about our time than a hundred speeches.
Council of Europe and UN Women Event on Technology Facilitated Violence Against Women
24 September 2025 — New York · Thank you to UN Women for this opportunity — and for your leadership when it is most needed. Let me address the question directly. The Council of Europe is acting on two levels. First, with our legally binding standard — the Istanbul Convention. Second, with new tools to meet the digital age. The Istanbul Convention has been in force for more than a decade.
High level meeting “In Defense of Democracy – Fighting Against Extremism”
24 September 2025 — Trusteeship Chamber, UN Headquarters, New York · Political violence is rising. Culture wars are replacing debate. Traditional parties are losing ground. Politics is no longer about what we stand for — only what we stand against. Anti-immigration. Anti-elite. Anti-system. This is the breeding ground for extremism. At the Council of Europe, we call the antidote “democratic security.”
ILO-led Global Coalition for Social Justice
23 September 2025 — UN Headquarters, New York · Rent that keeps going up. Food prices rising faster than wages. Families forced to choose between paying the bills or putting food on the table. The OECD warned us that in some of our member states, it takes six or even seven generations for the poorest 10 percent to reach average income Across Europe — and beyond — too many people feel that democracy no longer gives them perspective.
Digital@UNGA Anchor Event hosted by ITU and UNDP – Celebrating the power of Digital for Good: for People and Prosperity
23 September 2025 — Delegates Dining Room, UN Headquarters, New York · History no longer moves in centuries… It moves in seconds. One spark can start a revolution. One click can move a billion people. My story begins in 1950 Cambridge, England. Alan Turing asks a question no one dared: “Can machines think?” Weeks later, in Rome, European nations ask another: “How do we protect human dignity?” Two beginnings: AI and the European Convention on Human Rights.
International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children – Restoring Childhood and Humanity – Advancing Peace in Ukraine Through the Return of Ukrainian Children
23 September 2025 — New York · The children of Ukraine hold a special place in our work at the Council of Europe. They are at the heart of our Action Plan for Ukraine. A plan about resilience, recovery, and reconstruction. For Ukraine’s children, resilience means survival, recovery means healing — and reconstruction means a future. Ukraine has been the top priority of the Council of Europe since the start of the war of aggression.
Beijing+30 High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
22 September 2025 — UN General Assembly, New York · A girl born today may never see gender equality — and neither will her daughter. Thirty years after Beijing, we are still over one hundred and twenty years away. In her world, nearly one in three women face partner violence. One in six experience sexual violence. Violence drives a vicious cycle of inequality — generation after generation.
Lecture at the Diplomatic Academy
8 September 2025 — Nicosia, Cyprus · Thank you for your warm welcome. And I am particularly pleased to see the next generation of Cyprus’s diplomatic service here today. I. INTRODUCTION Two generations are in this room. In 1961, Cyprus joined the Council of Europe. That spring, Yuri Gagarin circled the Earth. A few days later, the Bay of Pigs collapsed in Cuba. The Cold War was taking a sharp turn.
Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine (CGU) in collaboration with the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Conference: High-level stock-taking session on the situation of the children of Ukraine: Council of Europe actions
9 July 2025 — Strasbourg · Some numbers are hard to process. Others are difficult to bear. And then there are those that haunt you. Nine children killed in a missile attack on a playground in Kryvyi Rih in April. Three children wounded in a drone strike on a kindergarten in Kharkiv last week — the youngest, a little girl, just three years old. *** All she knows is war.
International Conference on 75th anniversary of the German accession to the Council of Europe
8 July 2025 — Berlin · INTRODUCTION Guten Morgen allerseits. Es ist mir eine große Freude, heute hier in Berlin zu sein – an diesem besonderen Ort, zu einem bedeutenden Anlass. Good morning, everyone. It is a real pleasure to be here in Berlin to mark this special moment in the relationship between Germany and the Council of Europe. It is an honor to share this moment — and this stage — with Dr. Anna-Maija Mertens, and with Minister Johann Wadephul, whose presence here today reflects Germany’s continued commitment to…
Opening Informal Conference of Ministers on the 15th Anniversary of the Lanzarote Convention
1 July 2025 — Valletta (Malta) · One in five girls. One in seven boys. Before they turn 18. That is the global reality of childhood sexual violence. How long can we tolerate this? *** We have the laws. What we need now is stronger implementation — with the urgency and scale this crisis demands. Children are not the property of their parents. They are not just recipients of protection or charity — they are subjects of rights, and agents of change.
Address to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and signature of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine
25 June 2025 — Strasbourg · Dnipro. Another strike. Another crime. This is Europe’s largest war since the Second World War. This war did not begin last week. It did not begin this year. It is relentless… senseless… lawless. And it is escalating. *** As new strikes intensify — and global attention shifts elsewhere: We cannot hide. We cannot hesitate. We cannot look away.
Ceremony of presentation of the gift of Ukraine to the Council of Europe
24 June 2025 — Strasbourg · Thank you all for being here today to unveil this gift from Ukraine. On the 30th anniversary of Ukraine joining the Council of Europe. And on the eve of President Zelenskyy’s visit to our Organisation tomorrow. And thank you to the children for their beautiful song. *** What a powerful piece of art. At first, we are struck by the bold colours: the yellow and blue of Ukraine.
Launch event for the ‘Thinking of You’, exhibition by Alketa Xhafa Mripa
23 June 2025 — Strasbourg · There is art that shocks. Art that moves. And then, there is art that shifts how we see the world — literally. *** With Thinking of You, Alketa Xhafa-Mripa invites us to look up. To confront a truth many still find too painful to face. A truth that hangs before us, silently — carrying unimaginable stories. *** This installation reminds us:
Opening Ceremony – Hackathon and Democratic Debates
20 June 2025 — Strasbourg · This is the soundtrack of disinformation. But this room has heard voices of reason. Queen Elizabeth. Václav Havel. Angela Merkel. Simone Veil. Lech Wałęsa. The Dalai Lama. These voices have changed the course of Europe — and the world. Now it is your turn to speak. And the question is simple — perhaps the most important of all: What does protecting democracy mean to you?
Opening of the No Hate Speech Week 2025
18 June 2025 — Strasbourg · It is an honour to join our partners from the European Commission and the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers to open No Hate Speech Week. THE HUMAN COST OF HATE There is an enormous amount of pain in the world — and in Europe — right now. And too often, the answer is hate. Just last week, hate struck again. In a school in Austria. In a classroom in France. In the streets of Northern Ireland. In homes of lawmakers in Minnesota. In Gaza. In Israel. In Iran.
Conference at Yerevan State University
12 June 2025 — Yerevan (Armenia) · I. OPENING Բարեւ ձեզ (Barev dzez). Hello, everyone. It is a real pleasure to be here. I want to thank the Rector of Yerevan State University, Dr. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, for this opportunity. On this trip, I have met Prime Minister Pashinyan, as well as the President of the National Assembly. And later on today, I will sit down with President Khachaturyan and with the Minister of Justice.
Octopus Conference: Opening remarks
4 June 2025 — Strasbourg · It is an honour to open the Octopus Conference on Cybercrime — and to share the stage with Minister Attard and Minister Nartey George. Thank you to Malta for bringing us together on this urgent topic early in their presidency of the Committee of Ministers. I. STRANGER THAN FICTION You know, when I first heard the name “Octopus,” I thought: wow, this is straight out of a James Bond movie.
Opening ceremony of the Conference on the Council of Europe Neighbourhood Co-operation Priorities with Kazakhstan 2024-2027
30 May 2025 — Congress Center, Astana · Let me begin by thanking the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan for the opportunity to join you today. I am pleased to end this visit to Astana — my first as Secretary General — by listening, learning, and exploring with you how we can best support Kazakhstan’s work on rights, justice, and democracy. *** Over these past two days, we have grappled with the realities of security, energy, and the economy — issues that weigh heavily on all our minds.
Opening of the Astana International Forum
29 May 2025 — Astana · How long can democracy hold? Six months? A year? Two? We gather here in Astana — a crossroads of East and West, North and South — to discuss security, energy, climate, and the economy. But let us be honest: none of these can be secured if democracy fails. *** Democracy fails when we weaponize courts for political gain. Democracy fails when impunity becomes the norm — and accountability the exception.
Reception hosted by Eurimages in co-operation with the Producers Network
17 May 2025 — Cannes · It's great to be back at the Cannes Film Festival — this time wearing a new hat as Secretary General of the Council of Europe. I'm especially excited to be at my very first Eurimages Reception! The last time I was here, I came to watch Godard’s The Image Book, mostly produced by Switzerland. It was a wild blend of politics, cinema, and philosophy — that’s what I liked about it.
Ouverture à la signature de la Convention du Conseil de l’Europe sur la protection de la profession d’avocat
13 May 2025 — Luxembourg, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean · Nous sommes ici réunis aujourd’hui pour protéger celles et ceux qui ont fait de la protection des autres leur profession. Ces hommes et ces femmes de loi qui prennent la parole quand tout semble déjà avoir été dit. Qui refusent l’injustice. Qui sont le seul, parfois le dernier espoir de leur client. Qui tendent la main là où d’autres la retirent.
Ouverture de la Conférence européenne des Présidentes et Présidents de Parlement
20 March 2025 — Strasbourg · Il y a quelques jours, l’un des nôtres s’en est allé. Walter Schwimmer nous a quittés le 12 mars, chez lui, à Klosterneuburg, en Autriche. J’aimerais saisir l’occasion de ces premiers mots pour rendre hommage à l’ancien Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l’Europe — un parlementaire engagé, un Européen convaincu, qui a su guider notre Organisation vers un nouveau millénaire, entre les espoirs et les bouleversements.
“Book of Europe – Firsthand visions of the future of Europe”
27 February 2025 — Strasbourg · It is a pleasure to welcome you all this morning to the Council of Europe for the launch of the Book of Europe. Though, Mr Prime Minister, I have to say — it seems like you already got a head start at the Summit in Kyiv on Monday! More seriously, I fully agree with you, Dear Daniel, when you told these leaders gathered in Ukraine and online for the third anniversary of the war:
First part of the Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
28 January 2025 — Palais-Hemicycle · INTRODUCTION This week, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. And we remember the darkest years of our shared European history. However, this year, we will also be marking the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. And in so doing, we will celebrate one of Europe’s greatest successes.
80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp – Inauguration of the Memorial Garden on the site of the former Synagogue at Quai Kléber, Strasbourg
27 January 2025 — Strasbourg · The noise of exploding bombs. The noise of wailing sirens. The noise of trundling tanks. But when you arrive at Auschwitz, it is silence you hear – a deafening silence. You try to imagine those final journeys in trains of cattle trucks. You try to imagine the last words of a child to his father just before they are separated at the entrance to the camp.