Halonen addresses 30th anniversary celebration of signing of CSCE Final Act

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Helsinki's Finlandia Hall was the venue on Monday for a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
      On August 1st, 1975, leaders from 35 countries of Europe, as well as the United States and Canada, signed the now-famous document.
      The principles of the CSCE, which changed its name to that of the Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 1995, were seen by many commentators as having a key role in the fall of communism.
      Changes on the map of Europe and its adjacent areas have increased the number of member states of the OSCE from the original 35 to 55.
     
One of those expressing confidence in the transformative power of the CSCE was President Tarja Halonen, who opened the event.
      "The World leaders who signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe knew they were making history. Few people could see or predict, however, that events would lead to the end of the Cold War and to the end of the political division of Europe and of the whole world", the President said in her speech.
      "The CSCE sowed the seeds of change, which encouraged individuals to act on behalf of human rights and made civil societies the building blocks of new democracies", she continued.
      The OSCE, which has receded into the background of world politics, is looking for a recipe for change which would allow it to defend its place in a changing environment.
      The greatest challenge for the international community is ahead in the autumn, when decisions are to be made on reforms to the UN. A very difficult aspect of this is the question of changing the structure of the Security Council.
      President Halonen emphasised the importance of the issue at hand.
      "The international community cannot afford to fail in strengthening the UN", she said.
      She also underscored the need for cooperation, rather than competition.
      "Our resources are however limited. Multilateral institutions and organizations must engage in fair and frank cooperation in which they complement and strengthen each other's work. The United Nations plays a key role in this."
     
A concrete description of the transformative power of the CSCE came from Dimitrij Rupel, the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating Chairmanship of the OSCE.
      He told the audience that he remembers Helsinki and the CSCE from meetings of the Slovenian opposition before the first democratic elections in the former Yugoslavia. "What we knew about the CSCE sounded revolutionary and liberating. We whispered the letters C-S-C-E with hope and enthusiasm", Rupel said.
      He also heaped praise on what Finland did in the 1970s, noting that the CSCE probably would not have been arranged without the determination of former Finnish President Urho Kekkonen and that of Finnish diplomats.
     
In recent years the OSCE has sought to raise its profile in promoting democratic reforms in a number of countries, including the former Soviet republics. Representing one of these countries at Monday's gathering was Mrs. Nino Burjanadze, speaker of the Georgian Parliament.
      There was an uprising in Georgia in 2003, after which the country has been taking its first steps in democracy.
      Speaking of events 30 years ago, Burjanadze noted that at the time she was a citizen of the Soviet Union, and that the occasion was a great event for people who wanted to hope that the world can change.
     
     
A collection of articles related to the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Final Act of the CSCE will appear in our weekly section today, Tuesday.


Links:
  Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at an occasion marking the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in Finlandia Hall on 1 August 2005
  OSCE official site
  CSCE Final Act (Wikipedia)

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