Dear colleagues, honorable chairperson,
Today we are discussing one of the most pressing issues that threaten the very foundations of the any democratic society. I would like to thank rapporteur Mr. Mart van de Ven for his honest and scrupulous work where complex money-laundering schemes and the real outreach of the organized crime are exposed. At the same time, I want us to thank those brave investigative journalists that unfortunately often time at the cost of their life have uncovered those schemes that routinely penetrate and subvert democratic societies. Victoria Marinova, Jan Kuciak, Daphne Caruana Galizia and many others were direct victims of the organized crime and state negligence.
Corruption per se is not a new phenomenon. What is new about it is that with the development of the transnational networks and the only true gray zones meaning offshores, the speed that the corruption in one can country can affect the overall ecosystem is tremendous. While money certainly cannot buy love, it buys influence. The stolen assets and money in no time turn into offshore companies with limited or better to say with no any responsibility to buy political friends, to silences truth and to distort integrity.
Unfortunately, even the PACE was not free of this influence. The infamous caviar diplomacy penetrated these very walls to blindfold international community to the existence of political prisoners, virtual state capture, entrenched authoritarianism and the crackdown on the civil society. However, I should also commend our efforts to expose and reject this poisonous influence and our strength to stand for our integrity (Resolution2185) as stated in the Investigative Body on the Allegations of Corruption report.
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It takes many to set up a money-laundering scheme and yet often time it takes one to defeat this chain. An independent investigation, careful reading of declarations and persistence often time surmounts this challenge. I stand in support to rapporteur’s call for the national authorities to follow up on the IBAC report where enough evidence is compiled to persecute the corrupt politicians in their respective countries. The battle against corruption should start in the member countries, otherwise we risk fighting consequences not the root causes of this disease. Of course, the fact that in some countries the corruption is the cement of the authoritarian edifice makes matters worse, yet the continuous attention and monitoring is necessary.
Hence, concurrent with our work with the member states, we should strengthen the intra-European mechanisms of disclosing money-laundering schemes and fighting the organized crime. In addition to the toolkits such as MONEYVAL and Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO),the UN convention against corruption 2005, our work should be more strategically linked with the efforts our international partners. Furthermore, the civil society for example Transparency International and the independent network journalists like OCCRP are invaluable allies, in this struggle.
In my home country Armenia, the anti-corruption campaign is one of the key pillars of the new government. While the legacy that we are left is a difficult one, yet there is enough political will to tackle these issues in Armenia. In this matter too, I expect that that international support will be resolute. The expertise, knowledge and cooperation in these spheres is more than welcomed. Our aim is to transform societal thinking, where corruption will be condemned and the honest work and ethic will be the new standard of the citizenry.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
MP Sos Avetisyan,
PACE, Strasbourg
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