On 19 February 2019, the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty opened in Brussels. At the opening ceremony in the hemicycle of the European Parliament, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, took the floor. It was an opportunity for her to raise the subject that is close to her heart: the abolition of the death penalty.
Federica Mogherini, who had been engaged since her term as Italian Foreign Minister, had already taken a stand against the death penalty. In 2014, it had participated in the United Nations Universal Moratorium project.
In her speech at the opening of the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty, the EU High Representative welcomed the progress of abolition since the 1st World Congress in 2001 in Strasbourg. And the privileged place that Europe occupies in this fight.
Federica Mogherini also returned to the arguments against the death penalty. She concluded her speech with a message of hope for the future of abolition throughout the world and reaffirmed the European Union’s unconditional support for this fight.