"The promotion of dialogue is the only way to fight extremism and open up to intercultural and inter-religious understanding". This was stated by Jorge Sampaio, a high UN representative for the alliance of civilisations, during his speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the plenary session of which, which opened today, will go on until October 3rd. While acknowledging "the impossibility of finding a fast way to redress imbalances", Sampaio invited the 47 member states of the CoE and the whole international community "to join forces to make the world a better place to live in". PACE will hold two debates about the situation of the Caucasian region and the consequences of the summer conflict. The Strasbourg Parliament presented the report of the CoE Commission that visited Georgia and Russia, led by Luc van den Brande, and that of the Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg. The latter said that significant "steps forwards" have been made regarding the respect of human rights and the conditions of the refugees. "Such progress proves that humanitarian issues can be solved even in complex political situations".
