OSCE participating States commemorate 40th anniversary of Helsinki Final Act

HELSINKI, 10 July 2015 – High-level representatives of governments from OSCE participating States and their Mediterranean and Asian Partners for Co-operation gathered today in Helsinki to mark the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act.

The commemorative event, followed by the high-level discussion, symbolically took place in the Finlandia Hall where the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was signed on 1 August 1975.

The participants of today's Informal High-Level meeting recalled the principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act that represent a lasting legacy of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Helsinki Process made critical contribution to reducing tensions and to creating conditions that led to the end of the Cold War. It facilitated transition from confrontation to co-operation and paved the way for the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe, envisaged under the Paris Charter and established in 1995.

The Helsinki Final Act's concept of comprehensive security contributed to the change of attitude towards security through commitments on politico-military, economic and environmental, and human rights issues. The OSCE participating States have made significant achievements in this respect; however, more remains to be done to ensure the full respect for and implementation of the core OSCE principles and commitments. As a consequence of violations of these principles, the European security today experiences one of the most serious crises since the end of the Cold War.

The participants of the high-level discussion highlighted the importance of finding ways to re-establish trust and harmonize divergent security perceptions, along with the need to recommit to the vision of a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community, set forth in the Astana Commemorative Declaration from 2010.

The quick response by the OSCE to the crisis in and around Ukraine and the invaluable contribution of the Special Monitoring Mission to reducing tensions were praised by the participants in the discussion. Joining efforts to find a way out of the crisis is of equally crucial importance for addressing broader challenges to European security. The crisis in and around Ukraine comes atop of the protracted conflicts in other parts of the OSCE region. Moreover, security of the OSCE participating States and their Partners for Co-operation is being challenged by transnational and global threats - terrorism and the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, organized crime and trafficking, increasing flows of migrants and refugees, being common threats, entail co-operation in search of a common answer.

In the focus of the Informal High-level Meeting was the importance of further strengthening the OSCE and its comprehensive approach to security, including its capacity for preventing and responding to conflicts. This can only be accomplished through joint action of all participating States, requiring their political will, as needed as ever, to fully respect and implement the fundamental OSCE principles and commitments. This is one of the primary requirements for restoring peace and security in the OSCE region and for making its security architecture stronger and more resilient. In this regard, building on the Helsinki +40 Process becomes even more relevant.