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Council of Europe sings praises of unity amid notes of discord
Agence France Presse -- English
May 16, 2005 Monday 6:18 PM GMT
WARSAW May 16 -- The Council of Europe, the pan-European human rights
watchdog, has risen from the ashes of World War II to become one of
the pillars of European unity, participants at the council's third
summit meeting heard in Warsaw on Monday.
"Never before has Europe been so strong, so safe, so close to being
united," President Aleksander Kwasniewski of host nation Poland told
delegates in Warsaw's Royal Castle, which, like many landmarks in the
Polish capital, was rebuilt after being reduced to rubble in World
War II.
But while they too sang the praises of the council, fledgling
democracies, which have swelled the council's membership since the
break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, sounded minor notes
of discord, underscoring the need for the council as an organisation
using dialogue to promote understanding and unity.
After more than 50 years, the council "has not lost its value or
importance," said Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan, before
responding strongly to charges minutes earlier by Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev that Armenia was occupying Azeri land.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
majority Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh since a six-year war
ended with a tenuous ceasefire in 1994.
Aliyev "placed a very serious charge on Armenia without mentioning
our name when he said it was unacceptable that one member state of
the Council of Europe should occupy another's territory.
"Armenia has never occupied Azerbaijan's land. Armenia is in
Nagorno-Karabakh because Azerbaijan will not dialogue with the people
there, who want self-determination," Oskanyan said.
President Mikhail Saakashvili of the former Soviet republic of Georgia
described separatist rebellions in Moldova and Georgia as "black holes
on the map of Europe," and called on the council to work with other
global organisations to be capable of dealing with what he called
"frozen conflicts."
"Moldova like Georgia faces a separatist conflict that is maintained
with cast-off Soviet weaponry and profits from trafficking in weapons,
drugs and women," Saakashvili said.
"These are the last razor sharp splinters of the Soviet empire," he
told the summit, which has gathered scores of high-level officials from
throughout Europe, including 22 presidents and 13 prime ministers,
to chart the future of the continent's oldest post-World War II
political organisation.
He called for help for Georgia and other new democracies, which face
an uphill struggle to build lasting democracies.
Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power in that country's
"orange revolution" late last year, "faces real challenges in
rebuilding his country's economy and ending corruption and criminality,
the legacies of decades of repressive rule," said Saakashvili, who
himself took power following a peaceful uprising.
The Georgian leader also called on the council to help Belarus --
and its isolated president -- on the path to democracy.
"The regime of Alexander Lukashenko rules by fear. The world and the
Council of Europe should do much much more to help the Belarussian
people in their quest for freedom," Saakashvili said.
The Belarus president has been criticised in the West for the alleged
systematic persecution of his political opponents, for rights abuses
and hampering freedom of the press.
The council's Secretary-General Terry Davis, a former British lawmaker
from multi-ethnic Birmingham also urged summiteers to "campaign
against the new evil of terrorism and the old evil of racism."
He has described the council's main role as to encourage better
understanding between peoples.
Throughout the day, delegates at the first summit since the European
Union added 10 new members in May last year signed conventions on the
prevention of terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering and the
financing of terrorist acts.
They then have to be ratified by individual parliaments before becoming
part of the statute books.
Agence France Presse -- English
May 16, 2005 Monday 6:18 PM GMT
WARSAW May 16 -- The Council of Europe, the pan-European human rights
watchdog, has risen from the ashes of World War II to become one of
the pillars of European unity, participants at the council's third
summit meeting heard in Warsaw on Monday.
"Never before has Europe been so strong, so safe, so close to being
united," President Aleksander Kwasniewski of host nation Poland told
delegates in Warsaw's Royal Castle, which, like many landmarks in the
Polish capital, was rebuilt after being reduced to rubble in World
War II.
But while they too sang the praises of the council, fledgling
democracies, which have swelled the council's membership since the
break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, sounded minor notes
of discord, underscoring the need for the council as an organisation
using dialogue to promote understanding and unity.
After more than 50 years, the council "has not lost its value or
importance," said Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan, before
responding strongly to charges minutes earlier by Azerbaijan's
President Ilham Aliyev that Armenia was occupying Azeri land.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
majority Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh since a six-year war
ended with a tenuous ceasefire in 1994.
Aliyev "placed a very serious charge on Armenia without mentioning
our name when he said it was unacceptable that one member state of
the Council of Europe should occupy another's territory.
"Armenia has never occupied Azerbaijan's land. Armenia is in
Nagorno-Karabakh because Azerbaijan will not dialogue with the people
there, who want self-determination," Oskanyan said.
President Mikhail Saakashvili of the former Soviet republic of Georgia
described separatist rebellions in Moldova and Georgia as "black holes
on the map of Europe," and called on the council to work with other
global organisations to be capable of dealing with what he called
"frozen conflicts."
"Moldova like Georgia faces a separatist conflict that is maintained
with cast-off Soviet weaponry and profits from trafficking in weapons,
drugs and women," Saakashvili said.
"These are the last razor sharp splinters of the Soviet empire," he
told the summit, which has gathered scores of high-level officials from
throughout Europe, including 22 presidents and 13 prime ministers,
to chart the future of the continent's oldest post-World War II
political organisation.
He called for help for Georgia and other new democracies, which face
an uphill struggle to build lasting democracies.
Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power in that country's
"orange revolution" late last year, "faces real challenges in
rebuilding his country's economy and ending corruption and criminality,
the legacies of decades of repressive rule," said Saakashvili, who
himself took power following a peaceful uprising.
The Georgian leader also called on the council to help Belarus --
and its isolated president -- on the path to democracy.
"The regime of Alexander Lukashenko rules by fear. The world and the
Council of Europe should do much much more to help the Belarussian
people in their quest for freedom," Saakashvili said.
The Belarus president has been criticised in the West for the alleged
systematic persecution of his political opponents, for rights abuses
and hampering freedom of the press.
The council's Secretary-General Terry Davis, a former British lawmaker
from multi-ethnic Birmingham also urged summiteers to "campaign
against the new evil of terrorism and the old evil of racism."
He has described the council's main role as to encourage better
understanding between peoples.
Throughout the day, delegates at the first summit since the European
Union added 10 new members in May last year signed conventions on the
prevention of terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering and the
financing of terrorist acts.
They then have to be ratified by individual parliaments before becoming
part of the statute books.