50 years helsinki's final act: new: This article explores the topic in depth.
Furthermore,
50 years helsinki's final act: new:
US President Gerald Ford (left). However, Soviet leader Leonid Brejnev (center) in Helsinki during the conference. Meanwhile,
MagazineDuring the adoption of the pan-European regulatory framework, Switzerland played an important role in the 1970s. Therefore, How were the “Helsinki principles” and how did they lead to the creation of the OSCE? Moreover, Investigation with a historian and diplomats of the time, from Poland and Switzerland. Meanwhile, – 50 years helsinki's final act: new
In the heart of the Cold War, the countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain have agreed on common fundamental values. Furthermore, Between the blocks. Furthermore, Switzerland played a role of “first plan” in mediation on human rights issues, as a member of the Polish delegation at the time today.
The 1is August 1975. Moreover, 35 European states, as well as the United States and Canada, signed the “Helsinki principles” in the Finnish capital. Similarly, They have undertaken to respect the sovereignty of states, the inviolability of borders and human rights. Therefore, The agreement also planned not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Moreover, to resolve disputes in a peaceful manner, to cooperate economically and to guarantee respect for human rights.
This was the result of the Security and Cooperation Conference in Europe (CSCE). However, In this multilateral political forum. 50 years helsinki’s final act: new Nevertheless, the east and the west were returning to dialogue for the first time since the start of the Cold War.
How did the “Helsinki principles” have emerged and what role did Switzerland play in this process?
All of Europe at the same table – 50 years helsinki's final act: new
It was in the late 1960s that the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, with the other states of the Warsaw Pact, proposed to convene a conference on security and cooperation in Europe. Similarly, The first conference took place in Helsinki in 1973. For example, Negotiations for a final act took place from 1973 to 1975 in Geneva.
The signing of the “Helsinki principles” has entered history as the highest point of the relaxing policy of the 1970s. Furthermore, The atmosphere was imprint of optimism.
Hans-Jörg Renk. However, then a young Swiss diplomat who participated in the negotiations, remembers: “For us, it was a new and exciting 50 years helsinki’s final act: new territory. Similarly, The fact that all of Europe, from the east and the west, gathered around the same table was remarkable. Nevertheless, ”
However, the States pursued different objectives within the CSCE. Nevertheless, “The Soviet Union wanted above all to legitimize the status quo”, explains Adam Rotfeld. For example, This diplomat. Furthermore, a member of the Polish delegation in Helsinki in 1975, briefly exercised the function of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland in 2005. Consequently, “She considered the final act as a kind of peace treaty – 30 years after the end of the. Therefore, Second World War.”
The West has accepted on condition that human rights are part of the CSCE discussion themes. in addition to the economy and the security policy.
“For the Soviets. For example, it turned out to be a Trojan horse,” explains Thomas Bürgisse, historian in the Dedis research center (Swiss diplomatic documents). The 50 years helsinki’s final act: new member states of the Warsaw Pact, but also dissidents, could now refer to the principles of Helsinki. ”
Thus. organizations like the Helsinki group in Moscow, active in the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1982, or the Czechoslovakian movement for civil rights “Charter 77”, which largely contributed to the success of the velvet revolution in 1989, invoked the final act.
For Switzerland. participation in the CSCEExternal link – to which she was initially skeptical – represented an important step in the opening of her foreign policy. Before her membership of the UN in 2002, it was the only truly political multilateral forum in which she took part.
With Austria. Finland, Sweden, as well as Yugoslavia, Cyprus and Malta, Switzerland was part of the group of neutral and non -aligned states (abbreviated: N+N). “Within this group. she played a leading role in mediation, especially on the controversial issue of human rights,” recalls Polish delegate Adam Rotfeld.
Not only did the negotiations take place in part in Geneva. but the Swiss diplomats, as neutral actors, could also serve as mediators between the United States and the Soviet Union when the dead end threatened negotiations. “But ultimately. there too, the success of these negotiations depended above 50 years helsinki’s final act: new all on the will to compromise the two blocks,” said Thomas Bürgisse.
After signing the final act, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign AffairsExternal link stressed that real work was just beginning. Negotiations continued during the following conferences-although the East-West dialogue has experienced blockages on several occasions. “From the second conference in Belgrade in 1977/78, the diplomats left without having made substantial decisions,” recalls the historian.
In the 1980s. under the leadership of the Federal Councilor Pierre Aubert, Switzerland for the first time developed an autonomous position in terms of human rights policy, engaging in an increasingly assertive way on these issues.
When the state of war was established in Poland in 1981. Aubert delivered a speech of unprecedented severity, qualifying the situation of “tragedy for the Polish people”, criticizing the socialist regimeExternal link and pleading for an interruption of the CSCE conference.
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A peace age? – 50 years helsinki's final act: new
With the collapse of the iron curtain, a new era began. The non -aligned order was officially sealed at the extraordinary summit of ParisExternal link In 1990 with the. “Paris Charter for a new Europe”. In this document, states 50 years helsinki’s final act: new have committed to democracy, market economy and cooperation.
“Paris was the last summit in which the optimistic spirit of the first years re -reared. ” recalls Jerzy Nowak, former diplomat of the CSCE and member of the Polish delegation having participated in the Geneva negotiations between 1973 and 1975. “From the following conference in Budapest in 1994. we already felt that European cooperation would not be simple, especially in terms of Russia.”
The following years confirmed that Russia wanted to maintain its dominant position in the region. The wars in the former Yugoslavia also showed that the dream of an “age of democracy. peace and unity”, as mentioned in Paris, was an illusion.
The CSCE would in fact have been predestined to play a central role as a major pan -European organization after the end of the blocks. says Thomas Bürgisse. But it has always been late on developments. ”
50 years helsinki’s final act: new
It was not until the 1990s that the conference was institutionalized, with the establishment of an annual rotating presidency. Since then, the General Secretariat and the Permanent Council have been based in Vienna. In 1995, the conference was renamed Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The limits of diplomacy
The role of Switzerland also evolved in the 1990s. “The Paris Summit marked the last time when the group of neutral. non -aligned states played an important role,” said Marianne Von Grünigen, who then led the Swiss delegation and co -edited negotiations in Vienna with Finland and Sweden. “With the end of the blocks, the N+N group has dissolved and neutrality has lost its importance.”
Switzerland nevertheless continued to act actively in multilateral diplomacyExternal linkparticipating in observation missionsExternal link In the former Yugoslavia in full disintegration. as well as a peacekeeping mission in Haut-Karabakh. In 50 years helsinki’s final act: new 1996, she even assumed the presidency of the OSCE.
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In 2014. Switzerland again assumed the presidency of the OSCE – precisely the year when, with the annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine, the principles of Helsinki began to vacillate. Under the aegis of the Osce. the direction of the 50 years helsinki’s final act: new Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, the fragile ceases of Minsk I and II were negotiated.
But here again. as had already been the case during the wars in ex-Yugoslavia, a reality has imposed itself: “In the end, the decisions of the OSCE are without effect, notes Thomas Bürgisse, because it has neither a clean army nor the power to impose sanctions.”
All the decisions of the OSCE are taken by consensus. which allows Russia to block numerous initiatives since the start of its military intervention in Ukraine in 2022. Thus, the OSCE has been operating for three years without regular budget.
“The OSCE has never been so paralyzed in 50 years of existence,” said Thomas Bürgisse. Currently, the OSCE, which has 57 Member States, is the only European organization in which Russia is still participating. In 2026, Switzerland will assume the presidency for the third time.
What can Switzerland realize with 50 years helsinki’s final act: new its presidency? The former secretary general of OSCE Thomas GRIMERGER describes the possible scenarios:
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Text reread. verified by Benjamin von Wyl, translated from German using AI/OP
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