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75 years of the Council of Europe – working together to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Lettering at hr Strasbourg opera on behalf of 75 years of the Council of Europe, © Panama Pictures
Foreign Minister Baerbock is travelling to Strasbourg to visit the Council of Europe, which is marking its 75th anniversary this year. As the oldest European intergovernmental organisation, the Council of Europe has stood for human rights, democracy and the rule of law like no other since 1949.
During her two-day visit to the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in the Alsace region, Foreign Minister Baerbock will attend a ceremony and a working session of the Committee of Ministers of the 46 member states.
Today, the Council of Europe is a guarantor of democracy and human rights for 46 member states, or 700 million people, since Russia’s expulsion owing to its war of aggression against Ukraine. With the globally unique instrument of the European Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe guarantees that its 700 million citizens can hold their own state accountable for violations of human rights. This reflects the Council of Europe’s fundamental belief that everyone enjoys the same rights.
'The last chance of salvation for Europe' – that is how the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman described the founding of the Council of Europe 75 years ago.
Forty-six member states are doing this on a firm foundation of common values and rules.
With institutions like the Council of Europe that encourage us to keep on scrutinising ourselves as democracies.“- Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
75 years after its foundation, the values that the Council of Europe stands for are more vibrant than ever before. Many of its more than 200 conventions and protocols, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the European Social Charter, have an impact beyond the countries of Europe. In view of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, the Council of Europe has set up a register of damage in which Ukrainians can document the damage that they have personally suffered. The Council of Europe is also looking to the future in the area of digital security and will adopt a Framework Convention on artificial intelligence on Friday, which will also protect citizens in the digital sphere.
The Council of Europe in times of multiple threats
The fact that a member state of the Council of Europe, Ukraine, has been brutally attacked by another member state, Russia, for over two years now, required not only the expulsion of Russia, but also a strong defence of our common values against the threats that the Council of Europe is facing:
From without, by autocrats like Vladimir Putin, who has brought a war of conquest back to Europe with his aggression against Ukraine.
But also from within, from Europe’s populists and nationalists, who imprison journalists, manipulate the courts and foment hatred against so-called ”foreigners“.
From forces who want to roll back everything we have built together over the last 75 years.The autocrats from without and the demagogues from within have one thing in common. They think our democratic values are a weakness.
But they are mistaken.- Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
The Council of Europe has 46 member states today, thus bringing together – with the exception of Russia, Belarus and Kosovo – all the countries of Europe, including all 27 member states of the European Union, Turkey and the three Caucasus countries. What used to be an exclusive club for democracies has become a pan-European organisation since the end of the Cold War. Five states have observer status: the Holy See, the United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico. Germany has been a member of the Council of Europe since 13 July 1950. The Council of Europe’s headquarters are in Strasbourg, France.
Its primary institutions include the European Court of Justice, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.