The only international organisation to have expelled Russia from its ranks as early as March 2022, following the war launched against Ukraine in February, the Council of Europe has since continued to consolidate its support for the aggressed country.
This support, anchored in the summit of heads of state and government held in Reykjavik in May 2023, where the ‘Register of Damage for Ukraine’ was launched and has been operational since April 2024, was marked by a number of steps forward in 2025.
The visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Strasbourg last June was a particularly high point in this respect, as that was when the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine was signed.
“International law must apply to all - with no exceptions, and with no double standards”, said Alain Berset, the organisation’s Secretary General.
On 16 December, on the occasion of the opening for signature of the ‘International Claims Commission for Ukraine’, he announced that work on the establishment of this tribunal would intensify in the early months of 2026.
The ‘International Claims Commission’ follows on from the ‘Register of Damage’, which has so far registered 86,000 claims for compensation.
With the signatures of 35 countries and that of the EU, represented by Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who pledged €1 million in support of the initiative, this commission will have to rule on victims’ claims and define the amount of compensation.
The creation of the compensation fund, which is to be attached to it, is expected “within 12 to 18 months”, said Alain Berset.
Also of note: the appointment in February 2025 of Iceland’s Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjord Gylfadóttir as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the situation of children of Ukraine.
Another structuring element of the Council of Europe’s activities is the defence of European democratic societies, with the work of the ‘New Democratic Pact for Europe’, called for by the Secretary General and launched in September with the opening of the website.
Related events and consultations are expected to intensify in 2026.
European youth will be fully involved, as shown by the organisation of the Democracy Hackathon in June, the Conference of ministers responsible for youth affairs, meeting in Malta in October, and the significant participation of young people in the World Forum for Democracy in November.
On the international stage, the Council of Europe, through its Secretary General, has promoted “a strategy for democratic security” which was discussed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September and at the summits of the European Political Community in Tirana in May and Copenhagen in October.
“European security can no longer be conceived in silos. The traditional divide between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ security has become obsolete. Protecting our institutions, our rights, and our freedoms - against both external and internal challenges - has become a strategic imperative”, declared Alain Berset in Tirana, before asking a “pertinent” question in Copenhagen: “The issue is clear: if states rearm but extremist governments come to power tomorrow, what happens?”
The year 2025 was also marked by the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe’s flagship instrument, whose case law on migration issues has been called into question by several Council of Europe and EU Member States.
An informal ministerial conference on this subject was organised in Strasbourg on 10 December to refocus the debate at the heart of a dialogue between the 46 Member States of the Organisation.
The Venice Commission for democracy through law celebrated its 35th anniversary in the Doges Palace, where it was founded, the Florence Convention celebrated 25 years of protecting Europe’s landscape heritage in October, and the 15th anniversary of the Lanzarote Convention, against sexual abuse of children, was marked by a conference of ministers responsible for children’s rights, held in Malta in July.
The year that is coming to an end was also marked by the opening for signature in September of the Valletta Protocol on cooperation in countering transnational crimes, the adoption in March of a Convention to protect lawyers and other legal professionals and the adoption in November of a Convention on television series production.
The Convention on the protection of the environment through criminal law was opened for signature in December. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)