Helping Ukraine will be Ireland’s top priority as it holds the presidency of the Council of Europe for six months, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said in a speech in Strasbourg.
Ireland has assumed the lead of the 46-member international body at a testing time as it faces a hole in its budget following the expulsion of Russia as a member state, and the flouting of rulings by its court, the European Court of Human Rights.
“Ireland has no higher priority” in the presidency than supporting Ukraine, he told a plenary session of the organisation on Tuesday.
He appealed to the member states to recommit to the body and its mission of upholding the rule of law and the protection of human rights, set down in the years following the Second World War.
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“The Council of Europe was founded in the wake of war on our continent. Now in the wake of war again today, it is time for our heads of state and governments to reconvene,” he said.
“To reaffirm our conviction in the rule of law, to recommit to the human rights enshrined in our convention, to answer autocracy by doubling down on democracy.”
He appealed to member states to commit to fully funding the body and plugging the budget gap left by Russia’s departure, saying that Ireland was making a voluntary contribution of €865,000 to support priorities of the presidency including an action plan on Ukraine.
”We should not be wasting a lot of valuable time discussing negotiating and pleading for improved budgets,” he said.
The body is currently struggling with a trend of member states being slow to implement changes required by rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr Coveney said that its rulings had been contentious in Ireland over the years, but had in time proved to be correct and helped the country develop.
“A ruling ignored is a right infringed. And if we’re selective in applying the rule of law, well, then lawlessness will soon be the rule,” he said.
He expressed “concern” at the British government’s plans to introduce an amnesty process for Troubles-era killings, which was challenged by the Council of Europe earlier this month due to concerns it could deny justice to victims.
