Fifty years ago, the Principality of Liechtenstein presented the Council of Europe with a copper-ring sculpture even before becoming a member. The gift marked an important step in the country’s ongoing European integration. But what drove Liechtenstein to join the Council of Europe, at a time when some questioned whether small states could meet the obligations of membership in international organisations?
As part of the visibility project, this is the story of Liechtenstein’s journey to the Council of Europe – a journey that began, unexpectedly, with a sculpture.
Behind the wheel
Fifty years after Liechtenstein presented Georg Malin’s Copper Ring to the Council of Europe in 1977, the sculpture can be seen as a powerful testament to how art can sometimes anticipate history.
For Georg Malin the wheel (Rad in German) symbolises the eternal cycle of life and continuous movement. In the Palais de l’Europe – the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg – it has acquired another resonance: a fitting metaphor for Liechtenstein’s determination to keep moving with Europe and contribute to addressing its common challenges. As new challenges arise, this commitment to moving forward with Europe is today reflected in the Council of Europe’s New Democratic Pact for Europe, which seeks to strengthen the resilience of democratic institutions, freedoms, and values.
At the time of the Principality’s accession in 1978 the then Prime Minister, Hans Brunhart, emphasised that Liechtenstein’s accession to the Council of Europe marked without doubt the beginning of a new era in its foreign policy: “An era not only of heightened sovereignty but also of … even more active cooperation with its neighbours and the other countries of Europe.”
All roads lead to Strasbourg
Liechtenstein’s admission to the Council of Europe smoothed the path for the country’s accession to the United Nations in 1990 and the European Economic Area in 1995. It also paved the way for other small states to join the organisation later (San Marino in 1988, Andorra in 1994 and Monaco in 2004).
Today, nearly half a century later, the sculpture continues to welcome delegates to the hemicycle of the Parliamentary Assembly, where Georg Malin himself served as a member of the Liechtenstein Parliamentary observer delegation to the Council of Europe when he was a member of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1966 to 1974. In that sense, we could say that the circle is complete.
Liechtenstein and the Council of Europe
