“Democracy cannot survive in an unstable environment and human rights cannot be defended when the threat of war is at the door”, stressed Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis during his keynote address at the ‘Athens Democracy Forum’ international conference.
The Athens Democracy Forum is being held under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the keynote speakers being Mr Varvitsiotis, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and Marija Pejčinović Buric, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, who travelled to Athens on this occasion.
Making reference to the impact of the Plague of Athens 2,500 years ago, Mr Varvitsiotis stressed that any pandemic can endanger the fundamental values of democracy and basic human rights. For this reason, the Greek Chairmanship focused its work on protecting these core values in times of pandemic. “The solution to this problem is not to go back to totalitarianism but to move forward in a more elaborated form of democracy”, he remarked.
The Alternate Minister did not fail to emphasise that these core values also include defending stability and security, a well-known fact among the peoples of the Southeastern Mediterranean and even more so in Greece. “Therefore, we want all the actors in the International System to refrain from actions that may cause turbulence in our stability and security”, he said, making specific reference to Turkey's instrumentalisation of migrants and refugees in Evros last March, as well as its efforts to change the status quo through the use of military means.
Finally, Mr Varvitsiotis referred to the ‘Declaration of Athens’, which, upon its completion, the Greek Chairmanship aspires to have adopted by the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe. He described the Declaration as a political legacy for future generations, a legal reference text, a true corpus of knowledge.
Earlier, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs had a working lunch meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić. Their discussion revolved around the work and initiatives of the Greek Chairmanship, which has prioritised the protection of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in times of pandemic. They also exchanged views on the new challenges of climate change, migration and restrictions on human freedoms caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in the day, Mr Varvitsiotis accompanied Ms Buric during her visit to the Presidential Palace, where she met with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. During their meeting, the Secretary General praised the difficult work of the Greek Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, given the adverse conditions caused by the pandemic, while it was also stressed that the Greek Chairmanship coincides with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.
September 30, 2020