Europe Day celebrations - Vinnytsia, Ukraine

14 May 2016

Speech by Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are gathered here to celebrate Europe Day. This is something that all European citizens across the continent should celebrate because it symbolises the reconciliation between the peoples of Europe since the end of the Second World War.

Every year indeed, Europe Day celebrates peace and unity in Europe. In fact, there are two different dates for Europe Day: 5 May as date of creation of the Council of Europe and 9 May, Europe Day for the European Union.

Ladies and gentlemen, Europe was created out of the ashes of war. The younger generations often forget that it is only 70 years since the Second World War, a war that left millions of deads and inflicted terrible suffering on tens of millions of civilians. We should not forget that it is the process of European construction that has allowed us to make peace with the past and to live without any major conflict since then.

The Council of Europe has, since its creation in 1949, always worked to bring down the walls that once divided the continent.

It is within the Council of Europe that 47 governments work together to develop and implement common standards on democracy, the rule of law and human rights. It is not always easy to reconcile the needs and wants of all the parties and cultures involved. BUT where would our countries be today if they were alone, divided and isolated?

Here in Vinnytsia, we are at the heart of Greater Europe. Your city has lived through the major upheavals of the 20th century. Today, however it has become prosperous and dynamic, as major administrative, industrial, educational and cultural center in the region. I visited your city and was very impressed by the efforts made to improve living conditions of citizens, to fight corruption and strengthen the educational dimension. All this has been made possible by a dynamic and determined municipal policy within a peaceful Europe.

The values that unite us are the ones championed by the Council of Europe. They are our common heritage and they belong to us all. But have we taken sufficient care of these values? Have we done and do we do enough to explain and share them with our citizens, to pass them on to our children?

Successive crises have rocked European countries for several years now – economic and financial crisis, security threats, flows of refugees and migrants, rise of extremism and xenophobia and even the return of war in some parts of Europe, as you unfortunately do experience, here in Ukraine.

 All these crisis lead to a crisis of confidence, to public disaffection with politics and institutions. And they lead also to populism.

Populist nationalism poses a threat to democracy, to human rights and to security in Europe. If we don’t stand by our democratic principles and tackle our problems while fully respecting human rights then the situation will only get worse.

In this context I believe that local and regional elected representatives have a crucial role to play.

With their proximity to citizens, they have the capacity to tackle the challenges and help finding solutions.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which I represent here today, believes that situations can be improved by the pooling of efforts and resources, at all levels of governance – European, national, regional and local.

The Congress encompasses over 600 local and regional elected representatives from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. It provides them with both political and practical support. It affords them the opportunity to exchange their practices and to network. It promotes the development of regionalisation and high-quality local democracy, for the interests of citizens.

Our common objective must be to work together to make our societies more prosperous, more inclusive and more respectful of human rights.

Ladies and gentlemen, like Rome, Europe cannot be built in one day. It needs time, political will and solidarity. This is the path that we need to find again.

Thank you for your attention and allow me to wish you a very happy Europe Day.