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The Palace of Europe in Strasbourg
The Council of Europe is an international organisation of 45 member states in the European region. (It is not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, nor with the European Council.) It was founded on 5 May, 1949 by the Treaty of London. Membership is open to all European states which accept the principle of the rule of law and guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms to their citizens. One of the main successes of the Council was the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950, which serves as the basis for the European Court of Human Rights.
The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg on the Franco-German border. Originally meeting in Strasbourg's University Palace, it is now domiciled in the Palace of Europe on the outskirts of the city centre.
Founding
The Council of Europe was founded following a speech given by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich on September 19, 1946 (text of speech (http://www.eurplace.org/federal/churdisco.html)) calling for a "United States of Europe", similar to the United States of America, in the wake of the events of World War II.
Aims
Institutions
The institutions of the Council of Europe are:
Symbols
Main article: European symbols
The Council of Europe is responsible for the notable European flag with 12 golden stars (upward pointing) arranged in a circle on a blue background since 1955, and the anthem based on the Ode to Joy in the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony since 1972. In 1964, it established the anniversary of its founding on 5 May 1949 as Europe Day.
Membership
There are 45 member states today. Upon foundation on May 5, 1949 there were ten members:
Members with later admission dates (sorted by date of admission) :
- Greece (August 9, 1949)
- Turkey (August 9, 1949)
- Iceland (March 9, 1950)
- Federal Republic of Germany (July 13, 1950)
- Austria (April 16, 1956)
- Cyprus (May 24, 1961)
- Switzerland (May 6, 1963)
- Malta (April 29, 1965)
- Portugal (September 22, 1976)
- Spain (November 24, 1977)
- Liechtenstein (November 23, 1978)
- San Marino (November 16, 1988)
- Finland (May 5, 1989)
- Hungary (November 6, 1990)
- Poland (November 29, 1991)
- Bulgaria (May 7, 1992)
- Estonia (May 14, 1993)
- Lithuania (May 14, 1993)
- Slovenia (May 14, 1993)
- Czech Republic (June 30, 1993)
- Slovakia (June 30, 1993)
- Romania (October 7, 1993)
- Andorra (October 10, 1994)
- Latvia (February 10, 1995)
- Albania (July 13, 1995)
- Moldova (July 13, 1995)
- Macedonia (November 9, 1995)
- Ukraine (November 9, 1995)
- Russian Federation (February 28, 1996)
- Croatia (November 6, 1996)
- Georgia (April 27, 1999)
- Armenia (January 25, 2001)
- Azerbaijan (January 25, 2001)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (April 24, 2002)
- Serbia and Montenegro (April 3, 2003)
Monaco has been a candidate for membership since 1998. The Vatican City holds special observer status. Belarus formerly held special guest status, but this has been suspended since 1997.
The non-European states of Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico and the USA have observer status.
See also
External link
cs:Rada Evropy
de:Europarat
el:Συμβούλιο της Ευρώπης
eo:Konsilio de Eŭropo
fr:Conseil de l'Europe
it:Consiglio d'Europa
nl:Raad van Europa
sl:Svet Evrope
fi:Euroopan neuvosto
sv:Europardet
uk:Рада Європи
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