18/03/2025 President
“It is with sadness that we learned of the death of Walter Schwimmer, a distinguished member of the Assembly for more than eight years who went on to be elected as a Secretary General of the Council of Europe,” said PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos. “I extend my sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”
“Walter was an outstanding parliamentarian and a skilled politician who played a key part in many of the Assembly’s initiatives during the 1990s. He was notably involved in shaping the Council of Europe’s approach to some of the pressing bioethics questions then emerging, declaring in one opinion: ‘Life is the be-all and end-all in the field of bioethics.’
More widely, he played a pivotal role in expanding the Assembly’s powers, initiated the reflection which led to the setting up of a monitoring procedure within the Assembly and served as a monitoring rapporteur for Romania, Slovakia and Türkiye. He also headed the Group of the European People’s Party within the Assembly, before being elected as Secretary General of the Council of Europe for a five-year term between 1999 and 2004.
In his retirement he maintained his strong connection with the Council, serving for several years as President of the European association of former members of parliament of the member states of the Council of Europe.
Walter Schwimmer was a steady and stout defender of our Organisation’s core values who – whether as parliamentarian or diplomat – served the cause of European unity with integrity and determination.”