The stamps presentation was staged in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press-Center. Alexey Meshkov, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Oleg Dukhovnitskiy, Head of the Federal Communications Agency, took part in the event.
The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading political organization founded in 1949. It comprises 47 states, 28 of which are European Union members. Its headquarters is in Strasbourg, France.
The Council of Europe was created to protect human rights, build parliamentary democracy, ensure the rule of law, achieve pan-European understanding aimed at harmonizing social and judicial practice in member-states, assist nations in recognizing European originality and unity based on common cultural values and involving preservation and promoting culture diversity.
On 28 February 1996, the Russian Federation signed the European Convention on Human Rights, thus becoming the 39th Council of Europe member state. As of now, Russia has concluded and ratified 60 treaties and conventions of the Council of Europe including the convention on the prevention of torture, anti-doping convention, a convention on suppression of terrorism and many more.
The postage stamp bears an image of a world map with Council of Europe member states highlighted and a logo of the organization. Additionally, FSUE PTC “Marka” has manufactured an illustrated cover with a block of four stamps and a first day cover with cancellation (Moscow) inside.
“The 20th anniversary of the Russia’s accession in the Council of Europe is a remarkable date in the history of our country, and it is now immortalized in the postal miniature. The stamp will go over the globe and will also be included into all philatelic catalogs, thus contributing to unity of the continent’s nations ”, said Mr. Dukhovnitskiy.
Design: A. Drobyshev.
Face value: 21 RUB.
Size of stamp: 58×26 mm, size of sheets: 190×120 mm
Form of issue: sheet of 12 (3×4) stamps
Circulation: 324,000 stamps (27,000 sheets).
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