Conference marks 30th anniversary of CSCE Follow-up Meeting in Belgrade

On 8 March 1978, the historic First Follow-up Meeting to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE, the OSCE's predecessor) concluded after five months of talks in Belgrade.

The meeting, which had begun in October 1977, was set up in order to enable the participating States to exchange views on "both on the implementation of the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act [which was signed in August 1975] and of the tasks defined by the conference".

Thirty years later at the very same location - the Sava Centre in Belgrade - a panel of academics (including some of the participants at the original event) met to commemorate the First Follow-up Meeting in Belgrade, one of the key milestones in the organizational history and development of the CSCE/OSCE.

Standing the test of time

Addressing the opening session on 8 March, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, noted that: "While the CSCE benefited itself from the ending of the Cold War divide, it was also a catalyst of this change and promoter of democratic evolution and respect for human minority rights."

The CSCE Follow-up Meeting was marked by Cold War tensions and political divisions between the two superpowers, the USSR and the USA. One of the main contested areas was the discussions in the sphere of human rights, which at the time embodied a revolutionary concept and set the standard for the CSCE and later the OSCE to become a norm-setter with its multifaceted approach to security.

Despite the complex strategic landscape, the participating States were able to agree on a brief concluding document after five months of dialogue. The participants at the 30th anniversary conference noted that while this document was modest in content, the Belgrade meeting had played a very important role in ensuring the continuation of the Helsinki process, and hence the continuing evolution towards what was to become the OSCE.

Small but significant

The 30th anniversary meeting included working sessions discussing the development of the CSCE/OSCE process, the global superpowers and the role of neutral and non-aligned states.

Although the CSCE was a forum for the two main protagonists in the Cold War, the anniversary meeting also reiterated the importance of the role played by the smaller and non-aligned states. At the time, it was unprecedented for a forum to enable the smaller states to participate on an equal basis with the larger states and influence European security policies, noted Thomas Fischer of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, one of the speakers at the anniversary conference.

The principle of equality between participating States and the determination of consensus through multilateral channels of communication became a unique legacy that forms a fundamental part of today's OSCE.

The anniversary conference, which concludes today, was organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia in co-operation with the Zikic Foundation, with support from the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. It is planned to publish all papers presented at the event.