The establishment of the Council of Europe was a direct result of the catastrophe experienced by Europe during the Second World War.

Our meeting today is the last one before the Ministerial meeting that will celebrate the Organisation's 70^th anniversary. That milestone will provide a unique opportunity to look back at the road travelled by the Council of Europe, to discuss the challenges it faces and to chart a course for its further work.

As we all recall, following the thinking of the “founding fathers”, the unity of the common legal area of the European continent is underpinned by equal and indivisible security achieved through a unique body of convention mechanisms.

This must not be forgotten today, when once again Europe is being torn apart by bloc mentalities and attempts are being made to foist upon us “Cold War” stereotypes and development models that run counter to the norms and principles of the Council of Europe and disregard cultural diversity and national traditions.

Certain countries’ attempts to use the Council of Europe to settle scores with their political opponents and level divisive accusations within its walls are weakening the Organisation.

The result of these actions is evident: the crisis which started with the discrimination against Russian members in the Parliamentary Assembly has deepened. The Assembly has already elected almost half of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights and recently the Commissioner for Human Rights without Russia's participation.

Is this conducive to their legitimacy? The answer is obvious.

The Russian Federation advocates equal representation of States in the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe. This is necessary for ensuring the effective and well-co-ordinated functioning of the whole mechanism.

Our country remains one of the guarantors of the effective application of the European Convention on Human Rights. We have strongly supported the main priority of the Danish Chairmanship regarding the need to continue the ongoing process of reforming the European Convention system in order to maintain its effectiveness as a guarantor of human rights.

We believe that active dialogue between the member States of the Council of Europe, national courts and the European Court of Human Rights on questions of the Convention’s interpretation, including the application of the principle of subsidiarity, will only strengthen the Court in the long term.

Thinking in terms of “us” and “them” or turning a blind eye to discrimination against national minorities will not enhance stability on the European continent. In Ukraine and Latvia, the rights of millions of Russians and Russian-speaking citizens must be guaranteed by legislation. They must not only have the right but also be given real opportunities to receive education and all-round development in their native tongue and to use their language in official communication. Besides, there still remains the problem of statelessness in Latvia and Estonia, which needs to be addressed urgently.

On these days in May, as we pay tribute to the memory of more than 50 million people who died in the Second World War, we must do our utmost to stand against neo-Nazism and attempts to rewrite the outcomes of that war, including the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal. Nothing has been done about the 22 people investigated for the monstrous crime of burning 50 people to death in Odessa.

We firmly condemn as contrary to the spirit and legal instruments of the Council of Europe the vicious practice of using sanctions as a means of collective punishment against entire groups of States or entire population groups for their political beliefs. In particular, some European countries make it difficult for the citizens of the Russian Federation residing in Crimea to obtain visas. Moreover, we cannot help but be concerned by various restrictions on freedom of movement which are being imposed on parliamentarians, public figures and journalists.

We are alarmed that in an entire district of Ukraine the application of the European Convention on Human Rights has been suspended.

Russia stands ready to engage in constructive work to reinforce democratic security in Europe, but on the basis of consensus. At the same time, we find any attempts to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the Council of Europe extremely dangerous.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Chairmanship of Denmark for its effective work and wish every success to the Croatian Chairmanship.