MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) The Council of Europe should use its initiative to strengthen international cooperation that will allow for a rapid response to the various challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The ministry welcomed the decision of the secretary general of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric to participate in a St. Petersburg International Legal Forum online event devoted to discussing COVID-19 on April 10.
"We believe that it is as important as ever for the Council of Europe to use its significant potential as a multidisciplinary pan-European organization to strengthen international cooperation in responding to the various challenges of a pandemic. These include protecting human rights, especially those of socially disadvantaged members of society, and sharing best practices in health care, education and emergency assistance," the foreign ministry's statement read.
Finding ways to effectively respond to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is the world's top priority at this moment in time, the ministry stated.
"We are convinced that in the current difficult circumstances, the Council of Europe should cease to be a place for settling political scores, and should instead become a platform of cooperation for all European countries in the fight against a common enemy. This is what we see as the key to achieving the organization's main constitutional goal, which is to achieve a greater unity between member states," the ministry said.
The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum: The Rule of Corona is an online event scheduled to be held from April 10-12. It is expected that Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev will participate in the forum, which will assess how world leaders can ensure human rights, the functioning of public administration, judicial systems and business during a global pandemic.
