Young people are shaping 21st-century Europe in the streets, in universities, and online, and this is the new generation that will make the European project stronger, underlined Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, in his exchanges with young people in Malta today.
Addressing students at the University of Malta, the Secretary General stressed that our time "is the age of democratic security - not the old era of 'hard' and 'soft' security.
"It is a new age where no army can keep us safe if we do not have strong institutions, equal laws, and public trust, and where Europe will be judged not just by the power of its weapons, but by the strength of its democracy."
Europe's youth and the New Democratic Pact
Young people are shaping today's Europe, but "our institutions have not caught up". To renew democracy without reinventing it, to rebuild trust, and to "show that democracy delivers, especially for your generation", is the essence of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, Secretary General told the students.
How to integrate youth perspectives into the development of the New Democratic Pact was the focus of an exchange between the Secretary General and participants of a Council of Europe youth event in Valletta. Young people discussed how to create a shared narrative about democracy and presented their proposals for the New Democratic Pact, notably, on learning and practising democracy, protecting and innovating it.
Frustration with democracy?
"Some say young people are turning away from democracy", Mr Berset said. "But what I see is that many young people feel democracy has turned away from them."
Rising costs of life, housing out of reach, education and welfare systems cut back, freedoms again put at risk, fear and mistrust used as weapons built on disinformation, AI being a source of division rather than a force of good - all these everyday problems bring many young people to think it is no longer important to live in a democracy.
"That is the challenge before all of us - to bring democracy back into people's lives," he stated, adding that the process starts with the youth - young people who want democracy as a lived experience.
"Security is more than drones and missiles - it is also independent and strong institutions, a free press, impartial judges, laws that protect everyone, without exceptions - and societies strong enough to resist crisis, manipulation, and lies," the Secretary General stressed. A New Democratic Pact for Europe will embody this concept, in order to reset democracy as power of people to shape their own future.
Council of Europe events in Malta
The youth event - "Young people for democracy: youth perspectives in action" - has brought together over 80 young leaders, national youth delegates, and representatives of youth organisations from across Europe. Over two days, participants have exchanged ideas, crafted proposals, and built partnerships to strengthen young people's role in democratic renewal. The event sets the stage for the 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for youth for the that will follow later in the week.
Alain Berset at the meeting with Ministers' Deputies in Malta
Secretary General Alain Berset
Malta's Presidency of the Committee of Ministers
