Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis

Despina Chatzivassiliou is a Greek lawyer and senior official of the Council of Europe, who has served as the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) since 1 March 2021. She is both the first woman and the first Greek to hold the position since the Assembly’s creation in 1949. She was unanimously re-elected on 30 September 2025 for a second five-year term beginning on 1 March 2026.