site.btaBulgarian Foreign Minister Addresses Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly

Bulgarian Foreign Minister  Addresses Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly

Strasbourg, January 25 (BTA Special Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov Monday addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) at the opening of its winter session in Strasbourg, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.

In Mitov's words, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Istanbul constitute "the most blatant denial of our common fundamental values, the first and foremost of which is the right to life". "The aim of terrorism is to induce fear, provoke antagonism and hatred within our societies and thus destabilise them. We should be determined not to allow this to happen," he said.

The Council of Europe has an important role to play in assisting countries in the fight against terrorism, through the arsenal of its legal instruments, while respecting the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, Mitov went on to say.

He recalled that the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, which aims to tackle the issue of "foreign terrorist fighters", is now open for signature, and that Bulgaria is among the twenty countries which have already signed it.

In addition to the fight against terrorism, the Council of Europe should also deliver a promising perspective to young people and provide them with conditions in which they do not feel excluded, can develop their full potential and find their rightful place in society, Mitov noted. He added that the first main priority of the Bulgarian Chairmanship of the Council of Ministers is strengthening the protection of the rights of the child and facilitating young people's access to culture.

Mitov went on to say that the Bulgarian Chairmanship is planning to organize in Sofia in April a high-level conference for the promotion of the new Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child for 2016-2021. "At a time when young people are seriously affected by unemployment and poverty, democratic practices, education and youth empowerment protect States from internal strife: they are the best, if not the only, antidote against extremist views and movements which spread racism and xenophobia," the Foreign Minister said.

In his words, the Bulgarian Chairmanship's second main priority is the protection of media from external influence. "We intend to focus the attention on how hate speech could be the subject of regulation and self-regulation in the media and on the role of independent media and freedom of speech in promoting tolerance in our societies," Mitov said.

He called on the Council of Europe's member countries to maintain all efforts to offer shelter to refugees in a humane and dignified manner, despite all the difficulties. The member states, including Bulgaria, are faced with serious material difficulties in managing this problem, he added. "We have to be aware that the way we treat refugees does not only concern them, but also us and our future," Mitov noted. The recent unfortunate events in Cologne and some other European cities are an indication of some of the challenges faced, he added.