East-West relations (General Policy of the Council of Europe)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 28 June 1984. See Doc. 5238, report of the Political Affairs Committee ; Doc. 5248, opinion of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development ; Doc. 5239, opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education ; Doc. 5246, opinion of the Committee on Agriculture ; and Doc. 5249, opinion of the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Recalling its numerous debates and positions adopted on East-West relations since the beginning of the CSCE process, and most recently its
Resolution 806 (1983) of 1 October 1983 ;
2. Reiterating the deep concern expressed in that resolution about the possible consequences of an unchecked arms race, and regretting that the situation has since further deteriorated as the result of the unilateral suspension by the Soviet Union of negotiations with the United States in Geneva on the control of both intermediate and strategic nuclear forces (INF and START) ;
3. Equally concerned at the intensification of Soviet military operations in Afghanistan, and at the suppression of the free trade union movement in Poland,
4. Draws attention, in view of continuing violations of human rights in the European countries with communist governments, to the solemn pledge given by all the CSCE participating states, in the Helsinki Final Act and the Concluding Document in Madrid, whereby they confirmed their respect for and guaranteed protection of human rights, and expressly recognised the right of the individual to know and act upon his rights ;
5. Points out that East-West human contacts are of great importance for peace and understanding among nations, and calls on certain states of Eastern Europe, which do not yet do so, to allow their citizens to visit a foreign country of their choice at least once a year ;
6. Emphasising the need for international law to be respected by all nations including the superpowers, and calling for respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations ;
7. Noting, however, that the Concluding Document of the CSCE Madrid meeting held out a promise of progress in co-operation in several fields, and was more explicit than the Helsinki Final Act, among other things in its sections dealing with humanitarian co-operation, freedom for religious and trade union activities, and working conditions for journalists ;
8. Convinced that the current state of relations between the superpowers places a particular responsibility upon countries in both halves of divided Europe to maintain and intensify their dialogue both bilaterally and multilaterally in the follow-up conferences and forums decided at the Madrid meeting, such as that currently in progress on security and Confidence-Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe (CDE) in Stockholm, and the meeting of experts on human rights and the Cultural Forum due to open respectively in Ottawa and in Budapest in May and October 1985,
9. Recalls paragraph 14 of the section on principles of the Concluding Document of the CSCE Madrid meeting reaffirming that "governments, institutions, organisations and persons have a relevant and positive role to play in contributing towards the achievement of the above-mentioned aims of their co-operation", and emphasises that the Council of Europe is an institution within the meaning of this agreement, so that an increase in the official contacts of European non-member states with the Council of Europe and its organs, constitutes a means of implementing the Madrid Concluding Document ;
10. Noting that the first session of CDE (17 January to 18 March 1984) was conducted in a businesslike atmosphere, contrasting with public polemics, in spite of widely diverging interpretations of the conference's mandate by countries of the East and the West, and expressing the hope that genuine dialogue can commence in the course of the second session which opened on 8 May 1984 ;
11. Reiterating the determination of the Council of Europe to contribute to co-ordinating the action of its member states with a view to dialogue- and to provide an opportunity for such dialogue- with the states of the East of our continent, whose present fate depends on both sides and on the level of détente which we and they succeed in imposing in the conflict dividing the two blocs ;
12. Expressing the belief that the balanced development of stable economic and trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe should be considered as an important factor in the realisation of the basic objectives of the Final Act of the CSCE and would contribute to world security through the search for common grounds and mutual advantages ;
13. Expressing its concern, however, at the persisting dumping practices of certain Eastern European countries and the growing importance of counter-trade transactions in overall East-West trade ;
14. Believing that stable and intense trade in food and agricultural products contributes towards a more productive East-West relationship, and convinced that the much-needed reform of Eastern European agriculture can best be brought about by enhanced scientific and commercial contacts in this area ;
15. Bearing in mind the reports of its Political Affairs Committee (
Doc. 5238), and its Committee on Science and Technology (
Doc. 5172) and the opinions of its Committees on Economic Affairs and Development (
Doc. 5248), on Culture and Education (
Doc. 5239), on Agriculture (
Doc. 5246), on Relations with European Non-Member Countries (
Doc. 5249), and its Legal Affairs Committee,
16. Calls upon governments and parliaments of member states :
16.1 to continue to use the potential of both organs of the Council of Europe to exchange and, where possible, concert views on the ongoing CSCE process ;
16.2 to promote real dialogue in Stockholm, by ensuring that national delegations to the CDE continue to insist on militarily significant and verifiable confidence-building measures that are binding and cover the whole of Europe, with a view to giving effect and expression in concrete ways to the duty, to which the Soviet Union and her allies claim to attach great importance, to refrain from the threat or use of force in their relations with one another, and indeed with other countries, including Afghanistan ;
16.3 to uphold the principle of international law that forbids one nation to invade another in order to bring about political change, which must be regarded as fundamental in all international relations, as well as welcoming the fact that the United States on 9 June 1984, together with other participants in the London Summit of Major Industrialised Countries, declared their desire to seek co-operation with all countries on the basis of respect for their independence and territorial integrity, regardless of differences between political, economic and social systems ;
16.4 to encourage initiatives therefore aimed at reinforcing the political identity of Europe, both in the framework of Western solidarity and in East-West relations in general ;
16.5 to denounce human rights violations everywhere in the world ;
16.6 to encourage the states or groups of states which do not enjoy such benefits to introduce a system of supervision and appeal comparable to the European Commission and Court of Human Rights ;
16.7 to express their acute and urgent concern about the fate of the Sakharovs and of others, less well-known or unknown, who share their fate ;
16.8 to intensify European co-operation in the various specialised fields of activity included within the general terms of reference of the Council of Europe, and particularly in the educational, cultural, economic, environmental, legal and scientific fields ;
16.9 to improve co-ordination of their positions on problems arising from East-West trade, in particular with regard to preferential treatment, debt service problems and the consequences of the transfer of technologies ;
16.10 to develop economic and industrial cooperation with Eastern European countries on a basis of mutual benefit, thus seeking to overcome problems arising from the differences in Eastern and Western economic systems ;
17. Decides to continue and intensify its existing contacts at parliamentary level with European non-member countries, with a view to setting up efficient forums and mechanisms for dialogue aiming at improved mutual knowledge and cooperation in the interests of détente and the construction of Europe in the widest sense ;
18. Instructs its Legal Affairs Committee and its Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries to carry out a study of the situation of human rights and the right to free movement of persons, and to report back to it as soon as possible.
