Poland in the Council of Europe

On May 17-18, the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe was held in Reykjavik. This was only the fourth summit in the Organization's 74-year history. The previous event of this importance took place in Warsaw in 2005. The 4th summit confirmed the credibility and importance of the CoE as the largest European organization for the protection of human rights, promotion of democracy and the rule of law and was a direct response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the exclusion of Russia from the Organization in March 2022 and an attempt to define the CoE's priorities for the coming years. The leitmotif of the Summit was the unification of 46 member states around the values ​​of the Council of Europe, the vision of its future and around support for Ukraine, including ensuring accountability for crimes committed in Ukraine by Russia. It was emphasized that in times of crisis, such as the war in Ukraine, the focus should be on respecting the values ​​that underpinned the establishment of the Organization in 1949, i.e. human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The Summit was attended by a delegation of the Republic of Poland headed by the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. The President of the Republic of Poland, giving a speech among the elite group of G7 leaders during the opening session, reminded that the Council of Europe is a community of values ​​and it is our duty to defend them. The Council of Europe should be more united than before to strengthen our identity and unity. President Duda emphasized the importance of aid for Ukraine, which we - the free world - should support, because without this support all political declarations are invalid.

The final document of the Summit, including the political declaration with annexes, contained a number of issues important from the point of view of the organization's future.

One of the key elements of the Summit, constituting its significant added value, was the establishment of a register of damages caused by Russia in Ukraine. The register, adopted in the formula of the Extended Partial Agreement (which can be joined by countries and entities from outside the CoE - currently, apart from the vast majority of Member States, including Poland, also the USA, Japan and the EU), will be the first stage of building an international compensation mechanism. Among the important documents adopted at the Summit, one should also mention the declaration on the situation of Ukrainian children kidnapped and deported to Russia. It contains a call to support the Ukrainian authorities in their efforts to immediately return children kidnapped and illegally deported by Russian troops. The declaration also includes references to enhanced international cooperation for the exchange of information on Ukrainian children residing in other countries and for the reform of the system of protection of children's rights in Ukraine. The Summit also adopted a document entitled "Reykjavik Principles for Democracy", containing a set of principles governing the observance of the democratic values ​​of the CoE in the face of the growing number of threats to democracy. It says, among other things, about the importance of freedom of expression, assembly and association, independent institutions, an effective and independent judiciary, the fight against corruption, democratic participation of civil society and young people. CoE member states also accepted the declaration on the key importance of the Council of Europe's convention system for the protection of human rights, emphasizing the unconditional commitment to respect the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the text of the declaration on the Council of Europe and the environment was approved, pointing to the link between the effective implementation of human rights and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The issue of the natural environment was one of the priorities of the Icelandic Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Among other issues included in the final documentation of the Summit, there were e.g. references to the importance of the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights; the need to develop new standards for the protection of human rights in the digital era; including; promotion of social rights in Europe; media independence and cooperation with the civil society of the Member States.