ADDRESS BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE

KYIV, Friday 27 May 2011, 9 a.m.

Honourable Speaker,

Minister,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me a great honour and pleasure to open this meeting of the Standing Committee which is being held in Kyiv, within the framework of Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. On behalf of the Assembly and myself, I should like to thank most warmly Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn for his warm welcome and hospitality, as well as for the excellent organisation of our meetings.

Dear friends,

This is the first time since its accession that Ukraine chairs the Committee of Ministers. Sixteen years of membership in the Council of Europe prove that your country is resolutely engaged on the European path.

Let me stress that the priorities of Ukraine’s Chairmanship fully correspond to the “core business” and values of our Assembly.

The first priority – protection of children’s rights – is of course of paramount importance and we wholeheartedly support it. The Assembly contributed to the international conference on “Combating violence against children: from isolated actions to integrated strategies” held in Kyiv earlier this week and I congratulate the authorities for the successful organisation of this event.   

The Assembly is fully engaged in the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe “One in Five” Campaign to stop sexual violence against children. We have established a Group of contact parliamentarians and published a Handbook, in order to promote the signing and the ratification of the Lanzarote Convention “on the protection of children against exploitation and sexual” abuse in national Parliaments. Ukrainian Chairmanship offers us new opportunities to promote this work further.

The second priority – human rights and rule of law in the context of democracy and stability in Europe – is also the focus of our attention. We strongly support Ukrainian Chairmanship’s plan to strengthen prevention and promotion mechanisms in this field. And we are also ready to make our own contribution to this work : our bi-annual debate on the State of Human Rights in Europe to be held in June this year will focus, among others, on the role of Parliaments as guarantors of human rights in Europe.

The third priority – the strengthening and development of local democracy – is an area where the Council of Europe has developed a clear added value. As we all know, local and regional authorities have a key role to play in implementing democracy.

In this context, the Conference of Ministers responsible for local and regional government, which will be held in Kyiv on 3-4 November 2011, represents an important milestone in the implementation of the “Utrecht agenda” adopted by Ministers in 2009. Our competent committee on Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs will follow this issue closely.

Dear colleagues,

Before concluding, let me also strongly welcome the joint commitment of the Ukrainian, United Kingdom and Albanian Chairmanships to support the Council of Europe reform and to the reform of the European Court of Human Rights. The shared priorities of these three Chairmanships will help ensure the necessary continuity in the reform initiatives, which the Assembly fully supports.

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

Let me now give the floor to Mr Volodymyr Lytvyn, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada for his welcoming address. Afterwards, we will be pleased to exchange views with Mr Kostyantyn Grishchenko, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.