"Democracy is our common asset which is built from the grassroots, and local and regional authorities can make a valuable contribution to maintaining democratic stability," stressed Marc Cools, President of the Congress of the Council of Europe, addressing national associations of local and regional authorities in Strasbourg on 12 September 2024.
"As we will mark the International Day of Democracy three days from now, let us recall that we can achieve this democratic stability only by embedding the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in our local and regional communities," he continued. "The crucial role of local and regional authorities in this regard was recognised by the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik one year ago, with a strong mandate for action at the grassroots to uphold these core democratic values," underlined the Congress President.
"Let us also recall that the work of building and defending democracy is never finished. All throughout history, democracy and freedom have always been under threat from their antipode - tyranny. We see it in Europe today, yet again. Our colleagues and friends in Ukraine in particular, need the expression of our solidarity and, beyond the fatigue caused by the war, in Ukraine and in the other Western countries, we must never give up on defending democracy and expressing our concrete support," concluded President Cools.
