Moscow considers it important that the Council of Europe (CE) should act without double standards or selective approaches, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an address to CE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Russia’s membership of the Council of Europe.
According to Lavrov, "in the current difficult situation on our continent," it is important "for the Council of Europe to function without ‘double standards’ or selective approaches that undermine the basic principles, to facilitate overcoming the deficit of trust".
The Minister pointed out that the activity of the organization is "in the sphere of human rights, including protection of national minorities and elimination of mass statelessness, in fighting extremism, aggressive nationalism, racial and religious intolerance, in developing youth cooperation, inter-cultural dialogue and preserving Europe’s civilizational identity".
Lavrov expressed hope that joint efforts "will strengthen the role of the Council of Europe as one of the pillars of European architecture, fully use its significant potential in the interests of creating a common economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic to the Pacific, basing it on the principle of equal and indivisible security."
He assured that Russia, for its part, will promote it in every possible way, and congratulated Thorbjorn Jagland on "the upcoming anniversary of relations between Russia and the Council of Europe."
