Helsinki Process

In political communication, the Helsinki Process relates to freedom of expression; more exactly to freedom of information, free access to cultural works, and the rights of journalists to freely work and access information. The expression refers to the series of events that followed the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) from the early 1970s on.

The conference was initiated by Soviet leaders in the era of the détente (relaxation of tensions between East and West). The initiative was initially met by skepticism in the West and by democratic opposition in socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe (“dissidents”), as it was expected to formalize the division of Europe as part of the Cold War. However, providing earlier powerless and subdued oppositional voices within the communist bloc with a politically and morally—though not legally—binding international instrument, the process proved to stimulate rapid development in the opposite direction.

Finnish President Urho Kekkonen actively advanced the idea of the conference. Finland offered to host the preparatory talks, which started in 1972. This led to a set of recommendations, the so-called Blue Book, proposing that the process should be carried on in three “Baskets”: questions relating to (a) the security of Europe; (b) cooperation in the fields of economy, science, technology, and environment; and (c) cooperation in the humanitarian and other fields. Finland's position as a border country between East and West and the activity of Finnish foreign policy eventually led the initial phase of the work to be hosted by Finland.

A conference of foreign ministers in Helsinki, Finland, in July 1973 adopted the Blue Book, thereby launching the Helsinki Process. After a working phase in Geneva, heads of state from 35 countries signed the Helsinki Final Act in a conference in the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki (the “Helsinki Accords”) on August 1, 1975. The signatories represented all the European states (except for Albania), the United States, and Canada.

[Page 304]The Helsinki Accords introduced a unique international instrument that linked security and human rights. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and equal rights and self-determination of peoples, were included in the First Basket on European security. The Third Basket included issues of cooperation in the humanitarian field, freedom of information, the working conditions for journalists, and cultural contacts and cooperation. Having been played down in the initial phase of the process, these aspects soon gained prominence by inspiring democratic opposition in the communist bloc. The Moscow Helsinki Group was formed in 1976. Democratic opposition—for example, Charta 77 in Czechoslovakia, or political movements in Poland that preceded the Solidarity Movement, such as KOR (the Workers' Defence Committee, founded in 1976) or ROPCiO (the Movement for the Protection of Human and Civil Rights, functioning between 1977 and 1981)—was inspired by the Helsinki Accords. A growing body of Helsinki Watch groups led to the formation of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) in 1982.

With disintegration of the communist bloc, new states formed. Today 56 states are part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which carries the process. The work has been guided by several follow-up conferences. In November 1990, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe was signed, formally putting an end to the Cold War.

...