The Council of Europe

Mattias Jonsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! We have now moved on to debating the Council of Europe, the Council's role and importance for Sweden and Europe, as well as what characterized the Council of Europe during 2023.

The Council of Europe is based in Strasbourg and has a history dating back to 1949. It has been a cornerstone for the work of promoting democracy, human rights, and the principles of the rule of law in Europe. For Sweden - a country that cherishes, has cherished, and which I want to continue to cherish these values - the Council of Europe has been an incredibly important partner.

During and after 2023, the Council of Europe has continued its work in addressing some of the most troublesome and pressing issues of our time. I would like to highlight some central events and efforts that characterized the Council during the past year.

First and foremost, it was about the war in Ukraine. This was debated and was completely central in every session in Strasbourg. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has consequences for all the organization's member states. I would like to say that the Council has played a decisive role in supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as in documenting violations of human rights in this dreadful conflict. Sweden, through its membership in the Council of Europe, has supported the efforts and emphasized the importance of international law and justice for the victims who have been harvested in Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker! The decline of democracy continues, which is worrying. Trust in democracy and public institutions is unfortunately being undermined.

The Council of Europe held its fourth summit in Reykjavik on 16-17 May 2023. The summit took place against the background of a significantly changed geopolitical situation. A declaration was adopted - the so-called Reykjavik Declaration - in which the member states once again confirmed their view of and unity regarding the values that the Council of Europe stands for and the support for Ukraine.

The Council of Europe is now also trying to support democratic progress and development in Belarus via the opposition there.

At the summit in Reykjavik in May 2023, the member states also decided to establish a damage register which, in the first instance, shall document all damages that the war has caused in Ukraine and, in the second instance, shall provide the country with compensation for the damages caused by Russia. The parliamentary assembly has also established an ad hoc committee for the Ukrainian children, who are estimated to be tens of thousands, who have been taken away by Russia from Ukraine to Russia.

There are still 11,000 Russian cases in the European Court of Human Rights awaiting a ruling, even though Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention in September 2022.

Mr. Speaker! During the year, the parliamentary assembly adopted 49 resolutions, 21 recommendations and one opinion. Six full election observations were carried out during the previous year in Montenegro, Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland and Serbia. The assembly also elected three new judges - from Iceland, Denmark and Romania - to the European Court of Justice.

On September 28-29, 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a Speakers' Conference in Dublin, Ireland, where more than 60 Speakers and Deputy Speakers participated. From the Swedish side, First Deputy Speaker Kenneth G Forslund participated, representing Sweden and the Riksdag during the conference.

Furthermore, the Council of Europe has intensified its work to combat corruption and promote the principles of the rule of law in the Council's member states. During 2023, we also saw the launch of several initiatives aimed at strengthening the independence of courts and justice systems in Europe. This work is of immense importance to ensure that all citizens have access to justice and that our societies are governed by laws and not by arbitrariness.

Another important issue has been the protection of minorities' rights. The Council of Europe has continued its work in promoting inclusion and the protection of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities.

Mr. Speaker! For me as a Social Democrat and for Sweden as a country, a rich diversity and a strong tradition of safeguarding precisely those human rights are important.

Mr. Speaker! We are now debating the report for 2023, but let me take the opportunity to also say a few words about 2024. During the April session, the assembly decided by a large majority to open the door to admit Kosovo as a member of the Council of Europe. During the June session, we will make decisions on choosing a new Secretary General, and it stands between Switzerland, Estonia, and Belgium. This year, the Council of Europe also celebrates 75 years, and the Riksdag will mark this later this year. In addition to this, the terrible war in Gaza has been debated at every session since the war began.

We will continue to work to ensure that all citizens, regardless of background, are treated with respect and dignity. The Council of Europe faces many challenges, but it is through our collective work and our commitment to human rights, democracy, and the principles of the rule of law that we can meet these challenges. I hope that Sweden will continue to be a strong voice in the Council of Europe. I want us to continue to work to promote our shared values.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize the importance of solidarity and cooperation within the Council of Europe. By standing united, we can ensure that Europe remains a place where human rights and democracy are not just ideals but also a reality for all citizens.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

In this speech, Morgan Johansson (S) agreed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Markus Wiechel (SD)

Mr. Speaker! We unfortunately live in a time when Europe faces many difficult trials, so also in the assembly we are now debating. Not entirely unexpectedly, the work during the past year has continued to be characterized by the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its terrible consequences. The Swedish support for Ukraine remains compact, and I hope that it will remain so and that Europe's support and the perseverance for this support will also increase. Ukraine is fighting not only for its own survival but also for all of Europe, for the free Europe we all cherish.

Mr. Speaker! It is not only the Russian terrorists' inconceivable crimes that have characterized the congregation's work. Of course, Hamas's ruthless attack against Israeli civilians as well as the subsequent war have also been reflected in our work. It is a war where the terrorist group has once again shown itself to be completely ruthless when using Palestinian women and children as propaganda props in its cynical struggle against Jews and everyone who can be linked to the State of Israel. Hamas and its like show with all desired clarity that they do not care in the slightest about the Palestinian civilians who are now suffering as a result of the Islamists' fanatical struggle against Israel.

Mr. Speaker! This says a great deal about what kind of entity the democratic state of Israel is fighting against, and this leads me to the next point. In these times, there are good reasons to focus particularly on one of the areas that are threatened as the number of authoritarian countries in the world grows, namely democracy work. The undersigned has previously highlighted the importance of democracies working together. I mean that this is crucial for us to be able to withstand the new threats that arise when dictatorships tend to move closer to one another. Against this background, democracy work must continue, and I hope that our delegation will jointly work to strengthen the Council of Europe's ties to democracies in other parts of the world.

I have previously spoken a lot about the well-functioning and successful country Taiwan and about strengthening the ties between Europe and Taiwan, but there are more countries than that with whom the ties need to be strengthened. My firm conviction is that all democracies, not least in East Asia and Oceania, must be tied closer to Europe. I hope that we will manage to achieve this together.

Mr. Speaker! Normally, this annually recurring debate is characterized by a review of what has happened during the year, and so it should naturally be the case when we debate a report on the past financial year. There are, however, reasons to also link it to what is to come, precisely because our work extends over time and the work with democracy, human rights, and a development of the rule of law principle is constantly ongoing.

A current example that should be highlighted in the debate ahead is the situation in Georgia. The Georgian governing party Georgian Dream has clearly begun a journey that we should all be concerned about. The bill on foreign influence that has been drafted and also gained approval in parliament is almost a copy of that which was adopted in Russia in 2012 and which has been used to, unfortunately successfully, hunt down oppositionists and stifle critical voices. The law means that non-governmental organizations, so-called NGOs, and media outlets are forced to register as agents for foreign influence if they are funded from abroad with over 20 percent. They are also forced to open up all their internal documents for authority inspection.

It is not unexpected that the pro-Western citizens in Georgia have protested against this. We have seen tens of thousands of people openly and clearly demonstrate their dissatisfaction on the Georgian streets, despite being treated brutally and indignantly by the authorities in several places in the form of the unjust use of the monopoly on violence.

This situation requires us to act, and it deserves significantly broader European attention than what I have seen so far. The undersigned has therefore written a motion on this, which has already received support from a long line of parliamentarians from different countries and from several party groups. I hope that the Swedish delegation can unitedly stand behind my initiative. I turn particularly to the Social Democrats and the Social Democratic members in the delegation because they unfortunately tend to be reserved when it comes to this type of initiative.

Mr. Speaker! There is much to highlight. But there will be more opportunities, and I do not intend to prolong the debate unnecessarily. I move for approval of the committee's proposal and also want to take the opportunity to thank the entire Swedish delegation for good cooperation during the past year. I think we have a fantastic delegation, and I truly appreciate working with all of you.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Göthberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! It was a cold and dark night on January 13, 1991, in Vilnius. After a few months of thawing, the three Baltic states had, in stages, tried to assert their regained freedom and independence from the occupying Soviet Union.

The brutality was enormous when the Soviet Union was to suppress the Baltic freedom movements, and in Lithuania it reached its peak on the night of January 13 when Soviet special forces mowed down peaceful demonstrators at the TV tower in Vilnius. They had gathered shoulder to shoulder, side by side, to stand up for their freedom without weapons and with the power of the word. 14 people lost their lives.

This was just over 30 years ago. A people who were located closer to Stockholm than Luleå stood almost alone, but together they stood up for their freedom. We remember their names in countries that today are with us in the EU, Nato and the Council of Europe.

Last week, I visited Vilnius to meet Russian dissidents. There, I entered into conversation with a Lithuanian woman who was present when it happened. She told me about that night 30 years ago, about the seconds that decided the country's future, and about moments in life that she had not expected. She then told me about what she had seen in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, just a few weeks ago.

Mr. Speaker! The scenes are similar, but what is happening in Georgia is not yet as violent as the violence of the Soviet Russian occupying power in 1991. Just the memories of how peaceful Europeans met a regime's violence when they manifested their will for freedom and independence in Vilnius have become palpable over the years as we have followed the very worrying development in Georgia.

The Kremlin-friendly government's adoption of the so-called agent law risks completely shattering the opposition and civil society. Despite clear calls from the international community and a recommendation from the Venice Commission, a body within the Council of Europe, to withdraw the law, it was pushed through in parliament. The police brutality against peaceful protesters who gathered across the country to demonstrate with the European flag in hand has shocked us.

Since Georgia and the ruling party Georgian Dream, with a recognized and apparently completely obvious connection to the Kremlin, are part of the Council of Europe and its parliamentary assembly, this calls for our attention from the Swedish side going forward. Sweden should in all contexts where it is appropriate and possible point out that we stand behind the democratic Georgia and distance ourselves from the country's authoritarian direction. This will also be done by the Council of Europe during the current year in the parliamentary election awaiting the country at the end of the year.

The government has been clear here: Since the law is incompatible with the EU's norms and values, the decision will have consequences for the relations between the European Union and Georgia. I believe it is important to evaluate this also within the framework of the Council of Europe.

It is this type of work, the support for freedom and democracy, the commitment and dedication when it comes to European values, freedom and the principles of the rule of law that the Council of Europe is set to safeguard. In a unique construction with far-reaching powers to monitor the member states' democratic and legal development, the Council of Europe is more important than ever.

Mr. Speaker! There are, as I assess it, essentially a couple of prioritized issues where we have laid the foundation during the fiscal year we are debating today. We need to follow up on this very thoroughly also during the coming years for the sake of the Council of Europe.

The first and most obvious is Ukraine. As we heard in previous speeches from both Mattias Jonsson and Markus Wiechel, there is enormous support in the Swedish Riksdag regarding this, and even on-site in the Council of Europe, very dedicated work is underway to ensure that Ukraine is fully supported.

It is about, as we heard, documenting and cataloging war crimes, about the possibility of following up on the international requirements that have already been established regarding a special tribunal for war crimes, about the use of frozen Russian assets to be able to rebuild Ukraine here and now. It is also about a long-term work, for example when it comes to the ongoing demining capacity. We know that the land mined by Russia in Ukraine will take 700 years to clear at the pace we have now. The Council of Europe has a significant responsibility to be able to assist in this work of rebuilding Ukraine.

It is pleasing and welcome that the Council of Europe is now working in a concentrated and goal-oriented manner to support the democratic forces in Belarus. The democratic forces have a standing place in the Committee on Political Affairs, and the Swedish government, following an initiative from the Riksdag's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has also ensured that there is adequate funding for the democratic forces, together with the other Nordic countries.

The Council of Europe has also, during the fiscal year we are discussing, established a mechanism in the form of a contact group in the Council of Europe's secretariat to support these democratic forces. The Council of Europe also prioritizes highlighting the situation of the over 1,500 political prisoners that the dictator Alexander Lukashenko has imprisoned in Belarus. They must be released.

The very dangerous development we note in revanchist Russia needs to be given greater attention also in the Council of Europe. I want to remind, Mr. Speaker, that it was unfortunate that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe let Russia back into the Council of Europe in 2019 after the country had been suspended. This happened, among other things, with support and votes in the Assembly from the Swedish Social Democrats. But it was equally welcome that there was total unanimity from the Swedish side to exclude the Russian Federation after the country's full-scale and illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Respect for democracy and human rights is almost non-existent in Russia. This is no news for this chamber. The unjust treatment of Aleksej Navalnyj, which also led to his death at the beginning of the year, must be condemned, just as the arbitrary arrest of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, previously a frequent guest in both this house and the Council of Europe. His wife Evgenia Kara-Murza has taken up her husband's mantle to fight for democracy in Russia, but is also fighting for her husband's immediate release. There is compact support for this in the Swedish delegation.

Mr. Speaker! In conclusion, I want to say that the Swedish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe works consistently, well, and jointly with common approaches to do what is best for Sweden.

I think it is very tangible when the delegation gathers for sessions in Strasbourg four weeks per year. It is a task that perhaps does not always receive the attention it deserves here at home, but when it becomes critical, it is absolutely crucial to stand guard over democracy, the principles of the rule of law, and human rights on this continent.

We know that it becomes even clearer for the forces working in the shadows in their home countries to bring about a democratic change, but also for the forces that cannot even act in their home countries, not even in the shadows, to do the same and stand up for European values. The Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly support them practically in this work.

We have had a very intense year. As we heard earlier, we have chosen three judges to the European Court of Human Rights from Iceland, Denmark, and Romania. Six full election observations have been carried out. A successful summit in Reykjavik has taken place, which lays the foundation for developing this organization for the better. It is extremely important for our values, for democracy on this continent, for Ukraine, and for all those who fight for this. Sweden stands side by side with them.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Håkan Svenneling (V)

Mr. Speaker! I intended in this debate to say a few words about the situation for democracy and human rights in Turkey.

It has become very important to discuss this, I think, especially as Sweden has become a NATO member and we have now over two years seen how Sweden's voice has fallen silent in its criticism towards Turkey and its government, and above all towards its president Erdogan.

The Council of Europe has an important role in reviewing and monitoring the developments in Turkey. On several occasions, the Council of Europe has made statements and taken positions criticizing Turkey. The European Court of Human Rights has on several occasions ruled against Turkey, judgments which Turkey has subsequently not wanted to follow.

It is time that Turkey's actions have consequences. Turkey is not a democracy. It doesn't matter what Foreign Minister Tobias Billström tries to trick us into - there is no democracy in Turkey.

Local elections were recently held in Turkey. They were, as is usual when there are elections in Turkey, neither free nor fair, but the opposition still managed to achieve electoral successes. One was to obtain the position of mayor in the city of Hakkari in the Kurdish-dominated area in eastern Turkey, where Mehmet Siddik Akis was elected mayor.

But as usual, the Turkish regime always has an answer for those who try to have democracy. This time, they have, of course, responded once again with repressive measures. A week ago, the elected mayor Akis was arrested and imprisoned, all in order to be able to appoint another loyal mayor to the regime. We must condemn this shrinking democracy in Turkey that we see every day. It is important that the Council of Europe raises and follows up on it.

The second example that is worth noting is the so-called Kobane cases. In 2014, in connection with the battles over the Syrian city of Kobane between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State, IS, there were large protests in Turkey against Turkey's indirect and direct support to IS.

IS soldiers were then able to freely pass through Turkey on numerous occasions. Kurdish fortifications were often shelled from the Turkish side before IS could attack them. It became a kind of enemy-of-my-enemy friendship that developed there, where the Kurds, not IS, were the common enemy for Turkey along with IS.

Under these protests, tragically, some people died. They were primarily civilians, but also some police officers. The Kobane cases are about prosecuting individuals who called for peaceful protests against IS.

The absurd thing, besides the accusations themselves, is that the entire leadership of the opposition party HDP was prosecuted: 108 people. It was, therefore, a way for the Turkish regime to attack and destroy the opposition.

The judgment was recently handed down, ten years after these events. 24 people were sentenced to long prison terms. Two of them were Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdag, party leaders for the HDP party. They were sentenced to 42 and 30 years of imprisonment respectively. Both in 2020 and 2022, the Council of Europe has demanded their immediate release.

Both the Kobane cases and the shrinking democracy in Turkey must now have consequences. Turkey must be suspended from the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe must expand its scrutiny of Turkey, and at the same time, privileges must be withdrawn.

Furthermore, the EU must act. The membership process for Turkey to the EU must be completely terminated. All support and all benefits must be withdrawn. Sanctions need to be established. It is the only way forward to increase the pressure on Erdogan and his regime.

We have seen far too many years of coddling Erdogan and Turkey, especially during the Swedish NATO process. This must come to an end now!

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jacob Risberg (MP)

Mr. Speaker! The Council of Europe has a central role in defending human rights, increasing awareness of Europe's cultural diversity, finding common solutions to societal problems, and strengthening democratic stability in Europe.

Unfortunately, there are significant reasons for concern regarding the development concerning the Council of Europe's core areas: human rights, democracy, and the principles of the rule of law. The decline of democracy continues, and trust in democracy as well as in public institutions is being undermined.

It was noticeable both in Sweden, where voter turnout in yesterday's EU parliamentary election was close to falling below 50 percent, and in large countries such as Germany and France, where right-wing nationalist parties that want to dismantle democracy and actively work against human rights made strong progress.

Mr. Speaker! With this as a background, we are therefore extra pleased that the Council of Ministers last year, after seven years of negotiations, decided that the EU shall accede to the Istanbul Convention.

The threat of violence is something that women and girls around the world face daily. In the fight against violence against women and violence in close relationships, the Istanbul Convention is a very important tool.

The Convention is the first European treaty and the most far-reaching international agreement to combat and prevent violence against women and domestic violence. That the EU is now a party is an important step for equality and women's rights on our continent.

Mr. Speaker! We must continue to demand justice for Ukraine in the ongoing invasion, which is a violation of international law. It is positive that Ukraine continues to be high on the agenda for the Council of Europe's meetings, despite the fact that Russia has left them.

The Council of Europe must continue to be a strong actor for peace and security in Europe. But in the long run, it will not be enough to hold those responsible accountable.

All crimes against international law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law in connection with the war in Ukraine must be investigated.

The Green Party wants a special tribunal to be established to investigate and prosecute those responsible for Russia's crimes of aggression against Ukraine, with political and economic support from the EU's member states.

Mr. Speaker! Europe must continue to be a place where humanity, equality, and democracy encompass everyone. Freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of the press, and the principles of the rule of law are values that we cannot take for granted and that must be defended. Here, the Council of Europe has a continued central and absolutely necessary role to play.

With that, I move for approval of the committee's proposal to include the letter in the records.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 12 June.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)