The State of Democracy in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Summer 2010

The decision to bring into the Council of Europe the countries of Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most courageous political decisions ever. Although very few people in Europe object to the idea of democracy, some of the countries that applied to join the Council of Europe had never experienced democracy in their past and very few of their people at the time knew precisely what it meant. It was not only a matter of reforming state institutions and changing legislation (a huge task in itself!), but first and foremost, of changing mentalities and creating a democratic culture. This is not a one-way process, in which “old” democracies decant some of their knowledge to the “new” ones. The solutions that have worked for some are not necessarily applicable for others, because the entire context is different. This is where the Parliamentary Assembly is making an invaluable contribution.

The State of Democracy in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Summer 2010

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu