The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today re-elected Despina Chatzivassiliou to the post of Secretary General of the Assembly. She will serve a second five-year term starting on 1 March 2026.
Addressing the Assembly members upon her election, she said: "Your cross-party support, the unity showed around your elected Secretary General, is a special honour to me but also a great responsibility. An honour and responsibility I share today with the PACE team, who do the outstanding work you recognised with your vote."
"I will work at least as hard, and at least with the same passion and commitment, as I have done so far, with the support of you all, to defend the values of our Organisation and assist you in making the voice of PACE heard as loud as possible," she added.
The first woman ever to acquire this position in 2021, Despina Chatzivassiliou has since focused on strengthening the impact and visibility of the Parliamentary Assembly's activities, made its functioning more efficient and cost-effective - including through the use of new technologies and AI - improving gender equality at all levels and promoting constructive dialogue and co-operation with the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General of the organisation.
Despina Chatzivassiliou was born in Athens, Greece, on 28 February 1967. She is a Doctor in Law, holding a PhD on the European Convention on Human Rights from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. She started her career at the Council of Europe in 1993 at the European Commission of Human Rights. She is the mother of two children, Ilia and Charles Tsovilis.
The Secretary General ensures the proper functioning of PACE, implements its decisions and co-ordinates the work of the committees. She will head a secretariat of around 90 staff which assists the President and Assembly members to carry out their work and ensures the proper conduct of parliamentary proceedings.
