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Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on April 10, 2025. (Getty Images)
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Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe, speaking in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on April 28, 2026. (Getty Images)
The Council of Europe is the oldest intergovernmental organization devoted to human rights in Europe. With 46 member states and nearly 700 million citizens, it has built a vast legal framework on human rights and democracy and has developed hundreds of conventions, treaties, and agreements since its founding in 1949.
In the aftermath of the Cold War, for example, the council supported Eastern European countries as they overhauled their legal systems. Today, it has made Ukraine its top priority and has sought to hold Russia accountable for its violations of human rights.
Perhaps because the United States is not a member state—it enjoys observer status—the Council of Europe is not well known in Washington. Worse, it is sometimes mistaken for the European Union’s European Council.
Please join Secretary General Alain Berset as he explains the Council of Europe’s role today and its plans for the future. After his remarks, he will sit down with Senior Fellow Peter Rough for a fireside chat.
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