1. Art. 4 of the Statute (ETS No. 1, 1949). The candidate countries to the EU became members of the Council of Europe in the following order: Turkey in 1950, Cyprus in 1961, Malta in 1965, Hungary in 1990, Poland in 1991, Bulgaria in 1992, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia in 1993; Latvia in 1995.
2. Since 1976, signature of the ECHR has become an additional condition for accession. Since 1993, a time limit within which the ratification of the ECHR should take place (normally within one year from accession) has been established; see also Resolution No. 1031 (1994) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
3. Resolution No. 917 (1989).
4. Since 1989, all candidate countries have requested accession to the Council of Europe after having obtained the status of a special guest of the Assembly; see B. Haller, ‘L’Assemblée parlementaire et les conditions d’adhésion au Conseil de l’Europe’, in B. Haller, et al., eds., Law in Greater Europe (The Hague, Kluwer Law International, 2000) at p. 35.
5. See, e.g., Resolution 1055 (1995) of the Parliamentary Assembly on Russia’s request for membership in the light of the situation in Chechnya.