Situation in Poland (General Policy of the Council of Europe)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26 and 27 January 1982 (22nd and 23rd Sittings) (see Doc. 4834, report of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1982 (23rd Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Considering that the Council of Europe's vocation and membership makes it one of the best placed international bodies to deal with the situation in Poland ;
2. Noting that the situation in Poland has changed dramatically since the Assembly expressed itself on 5 October 1981 (
Resolution 758) ;
3. Vigorously denouncing the use of force by the Polish military authorities backed by the threat of an intervention by the Soviet Union, and considering that the imposition of martial law on 13 December 1981 put an end to evolution towards a democratic process more respectful of elementary human rights, on the basis of the action of Solidarity, a vast popular and trade union movement whose means of struggle have always been entirely peaceful ;
4. Saluting the courageous role played by the Catholic Church in Poland, and recalling the words of the Pope for whom there cannot be a just Europe without an independent Poland, and of the Polish Primate, warning the authorities, before the military take-over, against all important limitation of freedoms which had been won, including the right to strike ;
5. Considering that the present situation in Poland is a serious obstacle to the development of the process opened in Europe by the principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and the general spirit of the CSCE, with which the situation is in flagrant contradiction ;
6. Reasserting the humanitarian and other principles contained in the third basket of the Final Act, and deeply preoccupied by the recent suppression of freedom of expression in Poland affecting all categories of intellectuals, and by the abrupt check thus imposed on the progress that has been made over the last few years by individual Polish intellectuals, writers and artists ;
7. Considering that the present regime, rejected by the great majority of the Polish people, cannot be prolonged without relations between the two halves of Europe being seriously affected, and noting with satisfaction that the Western democracies now recognise that the minimum conditions for a resumption of normal relations and exchanges, also in the commercial field, would be the abolition of martial law, the liberation of political prisoners, the re-establishment of freedom of artistic expression and respect for other forms of freedom of expression and resumption of the dialogue with Solidarity and the Catholic Church ;
8. Considering that the number of Polish citizens who leave their country is constantly increasing, and that Austria- the country to which the flow is mainly directed- is at present hosting about 50 000 of them, which represents the heavy burden of about 100 million Schillings per month (about 35 million FF),
9. Calls for a closer concertation among European states with a view to co-ordination of measures taken or to be taken with regard to Poland and the Soviet Union, in the political, cultural, economic and financial Fields, both in the short and long term ;
10. Rejects the request that the Madrid Conference on the implementation of the Final Act of the CSCE pay no attention to the situation in Poland, and calls on the governments of member states to insist at the next meeting of the delegations in Madrid that the Polish Government respect the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act ;
11. Stresses that member states and democracies throughout the world should maintain and develop humanitarian aid and food aid to the suffering Polish people, under the control of non-governmental bodies to ensure that it will reach those who are in need of it ;
12. Appeals to the governments of member states, and also to the great non-European countries of immigration, to study with the authorities of Austria- the country offering first asylum- means of :
12.1 receiving the thousands of Polish refugees and assuring their integration in society ;
12.2 helping the Austrian Government bear the financial burden involved in supporting the Polish citizens at present on Austrian soil ;
12.3 giving the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (ICM) political and material assistance in order to increase its means of intervention concerning the reception and resettlement of Polish refugees ;
13. Appeals to the governments of member states to do their utmost to give new inspiration to the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act, in order to improve the situation of detente between East and West ;
14. Urges the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union to reach early agreement on limitation of the role and number of nuclear weapons in Europe ;
15. Proposes to follow the development of events in Poland, with particular reference to the situation of individual intellectuals, trade union members and political prisoners ;
16. Wholeheartedly supports initiatives to observe 30 January 1982 as a day of solidarity with Poland in all member countries.
