The Council of Europe is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights,democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949,it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation,representing 46 member states from Europe,with a population of approximately 675 million as of 2023;it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe,mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal International and a recognised European political party,incorporated as a non-profit association under Belgian law.
Michael Connarty is a British Labour Party politician,who served as the Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and Falkirk East from 2005 until 2015,and Falkirk East (1992–2005).
Robert "Bob" John Walter is a British-Turkish Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dorset from 1997 until he stood down at the 2015 general election.
Ria Oomen-Ruijten is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who has been serving as a member of the Senate since 9 June 2015.
Alexander Sebastian Léonce von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff,commonly known as Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP),part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe,who has been serving as the German ambassador to Russia since 2023.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe,a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights,democracy and the rule of law.
Axel Eduard Fischer is a German politician. He is a member of the CDU and has been a member of the German parliament from 1998 to October 2021,representing Karlsruhe-Land since 2002.
Cecilia Karin Maria Wikström,née Sundström,originally Nodbjörk is a Swedish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Sweden,part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Thierry Mariani is a French politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He previously served as Minister in charge of Transport under the Minister of Ecology,Sustainable development,Transport and Housing from 2010 to 2012. A former member of The Republicans (LR),he has been an Independent since 2019.
The EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Ukraine,Moldova,Armenia,Azerbaijan and Georgia participate and forge closer political and economic ties with the European Union. It was established in 2011 by the European Commission as a component of the Eastern Partnership. After the elections in Belarus in 2010 were declared as flawed by the OSCE,the membership of Belarus in Euronest was automatically suspended. Belarus is welcome to re-join the Assembly once political requirements have been fulfilled. In 2015,Azerbaijan's membership was suspended due to the European Union's criticism of human rights abuses by the government. In September 2016,it was announced that Azerbaijan would take the necessary steps towards restoring ties. As of 2017,the combined population of Euronest members stood at 61,927,521 people.
The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by ten western and northern European states,with Greece joining three months later,and Iceland,Turkey and West Germany joining the next year. It now has 46 member states,with Montenegro being the latest to join.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (ALDE-PACE) is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe bringing together 94 members from 33 states. Since June 2022,the group is chaired by Iulian Bulai of Romania.
Malik Azmani is a Dutch politician and former lawyer and civil servant. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),which he led in the 2019 European Parliament election,he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since then. Azmani was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.
Ramona Nicole Mănescu is a Romanian politician and lawyer. From 24 July 2019 to 4 November 2019,she served as minister of Foreign Affairs in the Romanian Government. She was a Member of the European Parliament serving 2007 to 2013 and 2014 to 2019 from the National Liberal Party,active within the European People's Party. As part of this group she is a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs,vice-chair in the Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and a substitute member in the Committee on transport and tourism and in Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.
Marina Schuster is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party.
Mátyás Eörsi is a Hungarian politician who was the leader of the liberal Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (ALDE-PACE) Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). He became a member of the PACE in 1994. On 6 March 2009 the Hungarian government nominated Eörsi to Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Michael Georg Link is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013 and again since 2017.
Russia was a member of the Council of Europe,an international organization that focuses on the promotion of democracy and human rights,from 1996 to 2022. At the time of its accession,Russia did not meet the requirements of membership,but it was believed that joining would help Russia improve its record on democracy and human rights protection. In a 2019 paper published in the International &Comparative Law Quarterly,international law scholars Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou and Donal K Coffey described Russia as showing "persistent and clear disregard of the values and aims of the CoE",including occupying other member states,sponsoring separatist movements,and ignoring judgements of the European Court of Human Rights. During its membership,Russia was suspended from voting rights on multiple occasions. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine,on 16 March 2022 the Committee of Ministers voted to expel Russia from the Council with immediate effect.
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Resolution 1580 (2007),titled "The dangers of creationism in education",is a resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 4 October 2007,in addition to a report of the same name.
