Situation in Poland and East-West relations (general policy of the Council of Europe)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 30 April 1982 (8th Sitting) (see Doc. 4880, report of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 30 April 1982 (8th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
2. Deploring the intervention, in the name of "national salvation", by the Polish army, subjected to external pressure, against a vast and peaceful popular movement, an intervention which has seriously aggravated the situation, not only in respect of human rights, especially freedom of association and expression, but also in the economic sphere ;
3. Again saluting the courageous role which continues to be played by the Polish Catholic Church, an institution which has survived in Poland and kept the confidence of the people, by demanding in particular, as a pre-condition for national reconciliation, the release of the members of Solidarity, a legally constituted association representing the workers ;
4. Noting that the Madrid meeting on the CSCE was suspended because of the situation in Poland, and that, in consequence, an improvement of that situation is necessary to restore the climate of confidence which will make it possible for that meeting, when it resumes on 9 November 1982, to have prospects of success ;
5. Rejecting the blackmail of those who treat all opposition to the present situation in Poland as an attitude hostile to peace in Europe,
6. Gives its full support to the position taken by the European Council on 29 and 30 March 1982 in Brussels, which repeats the three conditions for a return to normal relations with Poland and the Soviet Union (ending of the state of martial law in the very near future, release of those arrested, and resumption of a genuine dialogue with the Church and Solidarity) ;
7. Expresses the hope that, wherever possible, a joint attitude will be sought between the European and North American democracies in respect of Poland and Soviet policy towards that country ;
8. Regrets that the negotiations between the superpowers on the limitation of intermediate nuclear weapons, which opened at Geneva on 30 November 1981, but are now suspended, did not progress beyond the stage of propaganda declarations ;
9. Looks to the superpowers to pursue vigorously the negotiations in Geneva and to follow these up with negotiations on the verifiable and balanced reduction of strategic weapons (SALT/START) and conventional forces within the MFBR framework in Vienna ;
10. Urges all trade unions of member states to campaign for the restoration of the Gdansk Agreement,and welcomes the recommendation of the Freedom of Association Committee of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that a direct-contact ILO mission be sent to Poland to collect information about the trade union situation ;
11. Again invites the governments of member states and of the other democracies in the world, together with non-governmental organisations, to continue and to increase humanitarian aid to the people of Poland, notably through the channels of the Catholic Church ;
12. Repeats its appeal to the governments of member states to show their solidarity with Austria, the country offering first asylum to the Polish refugees, and to give the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (ICM) all political and material assistance in order to increase its means of intervention concerning the reception and resettlement of Polish refugees.
