In view of the severe impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the time has come to “allow diplomats, rather than generals, to take centre stage”, the head of Hungary’s delegation to the Council of Europe told the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on Monday. Zsolt Németh, who also heads Hungarian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, called for an end to the slaughter in Ukraine, saying the conflict had already claimed too many lives and had borne “catastrophic” military, economic, political and social consequences. “We must see that the old world order is coming to an end and a new one will follow. The world order enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Accords is coming to an end,” he said. “We central European states are certain that we do not want the return of a world order based on spheres of influence … we do not want the restoration of the Soviet Union,” he said.
Németh said convening the fourth summit of CoE leaders would give the CoE the opportunity to carve out an important role in shaping the new political leadership, he said.
Opening the summer session, PACE President Tiny Kox called on member states to refuse accepting the war in
Ukraine as the “new normal”, and to help end the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Kox welcomed that the CoE ministers’ meeting in May unanimously supported convening the fourth summit of CoE heads of state and government.
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