Chairperson,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Europe is, as the Secretary General Mr Jagland has said, facing "a crisis unprecedented since the end of the Cold War".
Events unfolding in Ukraine are proof. If you asked me the three priorities of the Council of Europe today, I would have to reply, Ukraine, Ukraine and Ukraine.
The Parliamentary Assembly in two resolutions last month, on Ukraine and on Russia, not only sought to stand up for the values of this organisation, but took difficult and principled decisions which the founders of this organisation, 65 years ago, would have expected of it.
In Resolution 1988 (2014) on Recent developments in Ukraine, the Assembly made it clear that Ukraine has a heavy responsibility, but also a window of opportunity, to bring about real constitutional change, electoral reform, decentralisation and tackle corruption. The Council of Europe is well placed and must help Ukraine bring about these changes.
The importance of this issue has however been overshadowed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the increasingly worrying events taking place in Eastern Ukraine, and on the country's border.
Actions have consequences, and as you are aware the Assembly in its Resolution 1990 (2014) laid out the consequences for Russia of their actions.
I would like to be clear on what the Assembly did and did not do.
Concerning the Russian Delegation, it suspended voting rights, the possibility of being represented in the Bureau and Presidential Committee and the right to participate in election observations.
It did not however suspend the credentials, thus allowing for an ongoing dialogue and participation of the Russian Delegation in the other work of the Assembly.
I regret, therefore the subsequent decision of the Russian State Duma to effectively supend "its further constructive participation in the PACE activities".
Chairperson, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It would not be right for me to focus entirely on Ukraine, and I welcome that the Secretary General in his report has highlighted the importance of the fight against corruption and tackling racism, hate speech and discrimination. In my inauguration speech in January before the Assembly, I also highlighted these as priorities, and thus fully support them.
In bringing my intervention to a close I want to emphasise another matter, namely the importance of "getting it right" in terms of the monitoring work of the Council of Europe and ensuring that it contributes to building a Europe without human rights dividing lines.
Improvements must be made and I would emphasise the importance of complementarity and ensuring that the results feed into one another. In this respect I would like to inform you that the Assembly is in the process of analysing its own monitoring procedures.
I would like to close by thanking the Austrian Chairmanship and recognising the good co-operation that exists between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly.
Thank you for your attention.