Within the framework of the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Italian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Benedetto Della Vedova, had a video conference call with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Tiny Cox, on the Ukrainian crisis.
Undersecretary Della Vedova highlighted Italy’s diplomatic actions, especially Minister Di Maio’s visits to Kiev and Moscow this week, which were aimed at contributing to the hoped-for de-escalation. Della Vedova also recalled the statements made yesterday by the institutional leaders of the of the Council of Europe, including those by Minister Di Maio as the Committee’s chairman-in-office, as the tangible example of an effective and timely collaboration focused on the mandate of the Council of Europe
Della Vedova also underscored how the Council of Europe, although it does not play a primary role in situations of open crisis, has a multitude of instruments to activate according to need in order to foster dialogue between member States and encourage them in their reform processes. Among these, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights and of the Venice Commission enjoy the full support of the Italian chairmanship in their work. Lastly, Della Vedova and Cox agreed on the need to continue to closely follow the situation in Ukraine and keep a communication channel open between the Italian chairmanship and the PACE.