50 years of the Helsinki agreements, Leon XIV calls for “persevere in dialogue”

Stefano Leszczynski – Cité du Vatican

And ” plane spirit ” Still on Europe and, despite everything, continues to inspire many leaders the political and moral commitment in favor of peace. It is “L’Sprit d’Helsinki” mentioned by Pope Leo XIV at the end of the general hearing on Wednesday July 30, recalling that today more than ever, it is essential to preserve it to “Persevere in dialogue, strengthen cooperation and make diplomacy the privileged means to prevent and resolve conflicts”. A call to the international community that the Pope wanted to revive from his X account @Pontifex_fr.

A rampart in international relations

Today, Europe celebrates the 50th anniversary of agreements – also known as Helsinki’s final act – which, in 1975, established the inviolability of borders and the peaceful settlement of conflicts in international relations. These principles were put to the test by the Russian Invasion on a large scale of Ukraine which started on February 24, 2022. At the time, the signing of the document by 35 countries of the Western and Eastern blocks, including the United States and the former Soviet Union, had taken place during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in the Finnish capital. On paper, this agreement remains today a pillar of relations between states, under the sign of international law and cooperation.

In the context of Russian aggression

It is in this context of aspiration to a peaceful coexistence that in 1995 took shape, in 1995, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which, with 57 Member States and a series of structures and missions, has become an important element of international relations in the region after the Cold War. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki agreements, Finland welcomed on Thursday, July 31, an international conference which saw among its main stakeholders the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky – remotely concealed – and the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres. Among the main themes addressed were the strengthening of pressure on Moscow, coordination between Ukraine and Finland in the fight against Russian aggression, OSCE reforms and the European security system, as well as the strengthening of kyiv’s defensive capacities.

A system that resists geopolitical changes

The 1975 conference is rightly considered to be one of the most important historical events in the process of relaxing East-West relations, and the principles that have arisen have resisted extraordinary events such as the end of the Soviet Union, the concerted dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification or the tragic disintegration of ex-Yugoslavia. “Many things have changed since then, Recalls Antonio Stango, founder of the Italian committee of Helsinki and president of the Italian Federation of Human Rights, But not always for the best. So much so that 50 years later, it seems that the organization for security and cooperation in Europe, resulting from this historic event, has almost no reason to be today. Not because its principles and ideals are no longer valid, but because the instruments with which the OSCE has been regularly invalidated by the action of certain Member States. ”

Russia is still a Member State

In this regard, it should be recalled that Russia, although it has withdrawn in 2023 from the organization’s parliamentary assembly, remained full member of the OSCE. “”In reality, she uses this belonging –Souligne Antonio bar– to block the agenda of the various bodies of the organization or its annual budget, when one of the pillars of Helsinki was and should become the pursuit of peace by dialogue and the establishment of confidence between states “. But, he said, to establish confidence, some essential ingredients are necessary.

Reconstructing confidence on new bases

“A part of” the spirit of Helsinki “, precisely recalled, note the founder of the Italian committee of Helsinki, consisted in establishing very clearly that for there to be confidence between the partners, states had to respect the rights of their citizens and do not violate their international obligations, foundations of coexistence between states. ” It follows, comments Antonio Stango, that “When a state in attacks another, violates its borders, in the appendix to the parties and continues a war for years, the work of a multilateral round table on security and cooperation is compromised, even if some of its structures and missions on the ground continue to play a positive role. We must therefore ask ourselves how to save this spirit and how to put in place, in the context of a process that will take time, an organic reform of the organization ”. Considering an overhaul of the OSCE does not therefore seem contrary to the very essence of the spirit of Helsinki, perhaps even, as Aldo Moro himself wanted in the 1970s, by further widening the look at the rapid geopolitical changes that upset the Mediterranean.