prevention and resolution efforts. This reflects the strong conviction that security and respect for human rights are closely linked – a connection which was sadly underlined by the recent violent conflicts in South Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The political and social changes that followed the end of the cold war in Europe have shown clearly that respect for human rights, functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law are key preconditions for stability as well as both internal and external security. in the early 1950s. The Soviet Union above all hoped for the formal recognition of the post-war status quo through such a conference and also attempted to push the United States out of the European security structures. In the course of the détente at the end of the 1960s, the West finally agreed to convening a European security conference, provided the United States and Canada could participate and human rights would be put on the agenda. It was this very aspect that makes up the Final Act’s historic thereby empowered human rights groups to contribute significance. The development of a comprehensive security to the moral undermining and the subsequent collapse of concept, which goes beyond the classic politico-military Communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. area by including economic, ecological, and, above all, human rights issues, can be considered as the CSCE’s most The CSCE/OSCE after the Cold War momentous innovation. The Helsinki Final Act is the first Because of its purely political character and despite the often-criticized consensus principle, the CSCE reacted much faster than other international organizations to the end of the Cold War and the new opportunities and challenges. multilateral security agreement containing provisions on the protection of human rights at the same level as traditional international law principles such as non-interference Initially, all main actors seemed to be satisfied with the document that was signed in Helsinki in 1975. The Soviet Union and its allies succeeded in obtaining recognition of the division of Europe and of Soviet hegemony in Central and Eastern Europe. The neutral states were allowed to sit at the table as equal partners together with the great powers and their allies. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IS A PRECONDITION FOR STABILITY AND SECURITY in internal affairs or respect for territorial integrity. THE OSCE WITH ITS 55 PARTICIPATING STATES IS PARTICULARLY WELL-PLACED TO TACKLE THE NEW RISKS AND CHALLENGES Since Helsinki made human rights a legitimate subject of international relations, criticism of human rights violations could not be rejected easily as “interference in internal affairs” any more. In particular the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe had to put up with inconvenient THE CSCE COUNTRIES CONCEDED TO ALLOW EACH OTHER TO BUTT IN WHENEVER HUMAN RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED The Helsinki process 1975-1989 When the Helsinki Final Act was signed on 1 August 1975 by the heads of state or government from 33 European countries, the United States and Canada after 32 months of tough negotiations, few observers foresaw the importance this document would acquire during the following years. It was heavily criticized by parts of the Western media. Many people thought the West was fooled by the Soviet Union – a wrong assumption as became evident later. In fact the idea of convening a pan-European security conference can be traced back to a Soviet proposal made questions in this respect, not only by Western democracies, Important breakthroughs were achieved at the CSCE Summit in Paris in 1990 with the adoption of the “Charter for a New Europe” and the conferences of Copenhagen (1990) and Moscow (1991) at which the CSCE’s standard-setting process reached its peak. The end of East-West confrontation and the changed security situation in Europe made possible a qualitative leap with regard to the refinement of the CSCE’s normative basis and the development of instruments to monitor the implementation of commitments. but also increasingly by their own citizens. At the time, every individual in the CSCE region was given the chance to read what their government had agreed to, as the Communist countries agreed that they would make the final document public in response to last-minute demands from the West that threatened to collapse the conference. With reference to Helsinki, dissidents and human rights groups such And the West could hope that the provisions relating to human rights and human contacts contained in the Helsinki document would undermine Communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe and make the Iron Curtain a bit more permeable. 10 as Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia could now effectively point out the obvious discrepancy between their governments’ international commitments and the actual human rights The Copenhagen Document of 1990 in particular contains a unique set of human dimension commitments situation in their countries. The Helsinki commitments 11