The importance of the Council of Europe (CoE) was highlighted during an event on the “75 years of operation of the Council of Europe: Republic of Cyprus – benefits and prospects”, which was organized by the Parliament on Monday afternoon in Nicosia.
In her address, the President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, briefly referred to the history of the establishment of the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1949 and the accession of the Republic of Cyprus on May 24, 1961.
“The greatest achievement of the Council of Europe is the establishment of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), which was signed in Rome in 1950 and entered into force in 1953,” stressed Demetriou, adding that “on a pan-European level, the ECHR was the first international contractual codification of the international protection of individual and political human rights”.
Referring to the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the President of the Parliament underlined
that this “is extremely important for our country”. After noting that Cyprus is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly by three permanent and three substitute members (Nikos Tornaritis, George Loukaides, Christiana Erotokritou and Kostis Efstathiou), she expressed her particular pride in the work carried out by the Cypriot delegation.
Speaking about the 63 years of participation of the Republic of Cyprus in the CoE, the President of the Parliament spoke of “a by no means easy path for Cyprus”, adding that “many times we found ourselves struggling to convince about self-evident things, especially after 1974”. At the same time, she emphasized that the Cypriot delegation to the PACE is “a unique example of solidarity and cooperation”.
She went on to say that the PACE adopted a series of extremely important resolutions, recommendations and reports on Cyprus, such as, among other things, on the Cyprus issue, on the Turkish settlers in the Turkish-occupied area of Cyprus, the enclaved and the missing people as
a result of the 1974 tragedy, the destruction of cultural heritage in the Turkish-occupied area, Famagusta and other important issues.
At the same time, he pointed out that in 2017, Cyprus, for the first time since joining the Organization, succeeded in appointing Stella Kyriakides to the highest office of the Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly, which – as she said – “she served with particular zeal, responsibility and dedication.”
In addition to the above, continued the President of the Parliament, highlighting the pivotal role of Cyprus as a pillar of security and stability and a bridge of dialogue and cooperation between Europe and the Middle East, was made possible precisely by this dynamic presence of Cypriot MPs in the Assembly. At the same time, as she said, this “significantly enhances the visibility and credibility of the House of Representatives, as well as its ability to contribute substantially to the making of important decisions and to form positions on key issues of both special intere
st to Cyprus and of wider interest”.
In his address through an audio-visual message, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Theodoros Roussopoulos, congratulated the Cypriot delegation for its work. “We are in the process of creating a new International Court where Russia’s offensive against Ukraine should be discussed,” he noted.
Referring to the crisis in the Middle East, Roussopoulos called on all parties to show restraint in order to avoid a major regional war.
In her address through an audio-visual message, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety of the European Union, Stella Kyriakides, who previously served as President of PACE and head of the Cypriot delegation to PACE, stated that she knows “first-hand the enormous scope of the project of the Organization and its importance for Cyprus, the difference that the CoE can make for all of us”.
She also said that she is watching “with anxiety the war conflicts around us”, pointing out that “today our common visi
on and values that the Council of Europe advocates are more important than ever”.
In her address through an audio-visual message, the General Secretary of the PACE, Despina Hatzivasiliou, said that one of the key priorities of the 4th CoE Summit, held last year, is the role and participation of young people, indicating that the participation of young people in decision-making processes improves the effectiveness of public policies and strengthens democratic institutions through open dialogue.
“We need to rethink and innovate democracy so that it is able to solve today’s problems and at the same time be ready to face tomorrow’s challenges. We can only do this if young people take the floor and participate equally in the political debate and in the decision-making process”, she underlined.
On his part, the head of the Cypriot delegation to the PACE, DISY MP, Nikos Tornaritis, said that the action developed within the framework of the PACE “is particularly important both because of the huge range of issues it
covers – human rights, democracy and rule of law – as much as because of the possibilities and opportunities offered for deepening our bilateral parliamentary relations and for the development of parliamentary diplomacy in general”.
“Although we are perhaps the smallest delegation in terms of numbers, our effort is to have a voice and a role in the Plenary Session of the House as well as in the various thematic Committees both for issues concerning our country and for other important issues of wider interest, thus strengthening the prestige of Parliament but also the image of Cyprus in general”, he emphasized.
The member of the Cypriot delegation to the PACE, AKEL MP, George Loukaides stated that “there is reduced or no visibility of the CoE in Cyprus”. At the same time, he pointed out that, if the CoE did not exist, things would be much worse in terms of the defence of democratic values, human rights, the environment and the rule of law.
The member of the Cypriot delegation to the PACE, independent Member
of Parliament, Kostis Efstathiou, said that the intrusion of the Committee of Ministers makes the decisions of the CoE an “empty letter”, pointing out that there are decisions that remained without implementation for 30 years, such as the one concerning Titina Loizides.
In his presentation, the Associate Professor of Public Law and Human Rights Law and Chairman of the Law Department at the University of Cyprus, Dr. Costas Paraskeva, expressed his concern about the extent to which the two communities of Cyprus respected the second part of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus since its establishment and whether fundamental rights were respected in the first 3 years of the Republic. What was missing in the first 3 years of the Republic was the cultivation of constitutional consciousness, he noted.
In his intervention, the President of the Cyprus Youth Council, Constantinos Loizou, said that the international platform of the CoE allows Cyprus to present its positions in international forums. He also expre
ssed particular pride for Cyprus’ participation in the CoE’s Advisory Council on Youth.
In her intervention, the President of Cyprus Youth Diplomacy, Amalia Avraham, pointed out that the relationship with the CoE is of special importance for Cyprus as an occupied state. The ECtHR is for Cyprus a haven of law, she said, adding that the SC and its policies have a direct impact on Cyprus.
In his intervention, Alekos Modinos, who won a case against Cyprus in 1993 after appealing to the ECHR, referred to the history of the process that followed his appeal to the ECHR against Cyprus and the decriminalization of homosexuality in Cyprus in 1998.
“Human rights are not more or less important or prioritized. There cannot be two standards,” he stressed. “Without the CoE, our world would be much worse,” he added.
In her intervention, Titina Loizides, who appealed against Turkey to the ECHR in 1996, referred to the main points in her case. “I experienced the Cyprus issue through its legal dimension, which concerns the
violation of human rights by the Turkish invasion. I saw the credibility of human rights being challenged at the political and legal level”, she underlined.
“I lived through the long period of partial implementation of the decision, the interests of the various states, and the importance that the Republic of Cyprus gave to my case,” she added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency