Mr Chairman,
The Secretary General’s first report on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe of today provides important – and quite alarming – information on the situation in Europe. Discrimination, racism, corruption, just to mention few, are wide-spread problems on our continent.
The report very effectively helps us to focus our attention on the key human rights challenges in Europe. We must be ready to tackle – and annually evaluate – the concrete challenges outlined in the report.
At the same time, the report also gives recommendations on how to strengthen the functioning of the Council of Europe instruments and mechanisms. We should consider ways to enable these mechanisms to respond even more effectively and quickly to crisis situations.
B. The current crisis in Europe
