original oneness...

Happy 60th birthday and happy Europe Day...the real one (I do NOT mean the day later this week associated with that EU thingy which grew from a coal and steel deal to become a seemingly corrupt veritable monolithic juggernaut and which, IMHO, should be scrapped).

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the Council of Europe (later some bunch of headstrong egoists pinched the flag...and the anthem...and a whole lot more). The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London. Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress." [Wiki]There may have been some bad press re the ECHR etc but all in all a very good thing.Link through the image to find out other interesting things you may not know, including how it costs 200 million Euros a year to run as against 130+ billion that the EU costs.

"In the first sixty years of its existence, the Council of Europe has helped to reconcile a continent after decades of ideological divide..." Press release.