Swiss foreign minister backs Berset at Council of Europe
Ignazio Cassis in Strasbourg on Friday.
Keystone
Ignazio Cassis told the Council of Europe on Friday that his former government colleague Alain Berset was the “ideal candidate” for the job as Secretary General of the Strasbourg body.
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Cassis told the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that Switzerland wanted to use Berset’s candidacy to help strengthen a fair, influential Europe, one capable of securing peace and democracy on the continent and in the world.
The foreign minister added that he was certain that Berset was the ideal candidate to lead the Council of Europe on its new dynamic path.
Switzerland fully supports the strategy adopted at the Council of Europe’s ministerial meeting in Reykjavik a year ago, Cassis said. This includes, among other things, the establishment of a register of damages for the destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. Without justice, there will be no peace, Cassis added.
According to the foreign minister, supporting Ukraine must be a priority for the Council of Europe, just as it is for Switzerland. This is why Switzerland is organising the Ukraine peace conference at the Bürgenstock resort in June, he said: it is a necessary first step towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc,dos
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