OREANDA-NEWS. May 04, 2010. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov attended the 61st Spring PACE Session.

The centerpiece of the Minister’s speech at the session was the significance of the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and World War II for the formation of today’s democratic European order. Emphasis was placed upon the decisive contribution of our country to the defeat of fascism and the inadmissibility of falsification of this tragic chapter in the history of the continent was noted. The Minister set out in detail the Russian approaches to shaping a new European architecture in line with President Dmitry Medvedev’s initiative for a European Security Treaty.

He met with Mevlut Cavusoglu, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Thorbjorn Jagland, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General.

Lavrov and Cavusoglu discussed topical issues of the Russian Federation's participation in CoE activities. They had a thorough exchange of views on how to enhance the role of PACE in eliminating dividing lines on the continent and to promote a unifying agenda of the Assembly more actively.

The conversation with Secretary General Jagland touched on a broad range of issues concerning the work of the Strasbourg body, noting the need to bolster the role of the Council of Europe in pan-European integration efforts, more specifically in the creation of a pan-European human rights and humanitarian space.

During the course of the session, the Minister attended the opening ceremony prepared with the participation of the National Council of Russian Children and Youth Associations for the exhibition “The Young Multinational Russia,” which was held at the Palais de l'Europe (CoE headquarters) from April 26-29.