28.09.2009

Embargoed until delivery

WELCOME BY MR LLUĺS MARIA DE PUIG,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

TO MR SAMUEL ZBOGAR, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF SLOVENIA, CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

(Strasbourg, Tuesday 29 September 2009, 10h00, Hemicycle)

Dear Chairman,

It is a real pleasure for me to welcome you to this chamber again. Your presidency of the Committee of Ministers has been a memorable one, I think both for you and for us in this Assembly. It started in an atmosphere of tension between the two statutory bodies over the election of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and I remember the hard time that we gave you in Ljubljana where we discussed the objections of this Assembly to the procedure followed by the Committee of Ministers. But I also remember the determination and the political will that you showed since the beginning, when you vowed to do your best to solve the problem.

Since then, Mr Chairman, we have travelled a long way together and what an exciting journey it has been! There were 5 meetings between our Presidential Committee and the Bureau of the Committee of Ministers and many other occasions on which we were discussing together and looking for a way forward. Although we were not able to change the Committee of Ministers’ mind about the current election procedure, we managed to achieve many positive changes and, as you know, the Assembly yesterday adopted the joint proposals for enhanced cooperation with the Committee of Ministers.

Mr Chairman, I wish to praise your courage and your political far-sightedness. As I said in my opening speech yesterday, you have been a wonderful example of the personal involvement that we expect from all the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, if we want this organisation to fulfil its important mission. Thank you very much for this.

You have the floor.