Ambassador Holland welcomed Monaco's Presidency priorities on
human rights and democracy, highlighting the importance of
countering Russia's war against Ukraine, supporting
accountability efforts, and strengthening coordination between
the OSCE and Council of Europe to uphold the rules-based
international order.
"Thank you, Mr Chair.
Minister, welcome to the Permanent Council. Thank you for your
presentation and for your commitment to the Council of Europe,
which remains central to the UK's human rights and
foreign policy agenda.
We welcome Monaco's Presidency of the Committee of Ministers and
its focus on protecting the rights of women and children,
promoting inclusive societies, and strengthening the
effectiveness of the Council of Europe's human rights system. We
particularly support efforts to combat violence against
women and safeguard young people in the digital
environment. At a time of growing challenges to democratic
values, these priorities make an important contribution to
protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law
across Europe.
We meet at a time of serious challenge to
European multilateralism, with Russia's unprovoked and
unjustified war in Ukraine presenting a challenge to
the rules by which we all agreed to abide. We urge all OSCE
participating States to uphold our shared commitments. We must
not allow aggression to undermine the international
rules-based order.
The UK strongly supports Ukraine's accountability efforts.
We were proud to Chair the Conference of Participants
for the Register of Damage until last month, which now
includes over 160,000 claims. We commend the
Council of Europe's leadership on
the Claims Commission Convention, which was opened
for signature in December, and welcome the adoption in
Chisinau last month of the resolution establishing
the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Special
Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine by
34 Council of Europe member States including the UK, as well as
the EU, Australia and Costa Rica.
The Council of Europe and the OSCE have complementary
roles in promoting democratic values, including
media freedom, gender equality, and free elections. Our
memberships are not the same, but both
organisations face similar challenges such as
democratic backsliding. It is therefore more important
than ever to coordinate effectively and focus
on the respective mandates and comparative
strengths to maximise impact, particularly in a time of
constrained resources.
Minister, the UK remains a steadfast supporter of both
organisations. We wish you and your team every
success over the coming months.
Thank you."
