The Helsinki Final Act was an agreement signed by 35 nations that concluded the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Helsinki, Finland. The multifaceted Act addressed a range of prominent global issues and in so doing had a far-reaching effect on the Cold War and U.S.-Soviet relations..

President Ford adresses the European Security Conference in Helsinki. (AP Photo)

The Helsinki Conference had its origins in early Cold War discussions. The Soviet Union first sought a European conference on security issues in 1954 at the Geneva Conference in the hopes that such a meeting would result in formal recognition of the political boundaries in Eastern Europe that had been established after World War II. At that time, the United States and the other Western nations were reluctant to engage in such a discussion because they feared that it might strengthen the Soviet position and lead to an expansion of communism. As a result, no progress was made through the 1950s and 1960s.

However, the shift towards détente during the early 1970s encouraged Western leaders to reconsider the negotiations. Discussions started with the Helsinki Consultations in 1972 and continued until the opening of the formal Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in July of 1973. From the summer of 1973 to the summer of 1975, intensive negotiations continued in Geneva, until the participants finally met again in Helsinki on August 1, 1975 to sign the Helsinki Final Act. Every European country except Albania signed the Act, in addition to the United States and Canada.

The Helsinki Final Act dealt with a variety of issues divided into four “baskets.” The first basket included ten principles covering political and military issues, territorial integrity, the definition of borders, peaceful settlement of disputes and the implementation of confidence building measures between opposing militaries. The second basket focused on economic issues like trade and scientific cooperation. The third basket emphasized human rights, including freedom of emigration and reunification of families divided by international borders, cultural exchanges and freedom of the press. Finally, the fourth basket formalized the details for follow-up meetings and implementation procedures. The CSCE held further meetings in Belgrade in 1977–78, Madrid in 1980–83, and Vienna in 1986–89.

Although initially unpopular in the West, the Helsinki Final Act proved important at the end of the Cold War. Some activists opposed the Western concession on boundaries that resulted in a formal acceptance of the Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, effectively acknowledging Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. In spite of such criticism, the third basket on human rights and freedoms ultimately proved to be important to dissidents in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. To follow the progress of the USSR in implementing the human rights stipulations established in the Act, human rights activists set up Helsinki Monitoring Groups in the Soviet Union and across Europe. These groups tracked violations of the Act and drew international attention to human rights violations. Furthermore, the Belgrade follow-up meeting introduced a review process to track violators of the Helsinki Final Act and hold them accountable. Together these measures enabled dissidents to act and speak more openly than would otherwise have been possible.

The Helsinki Process, including the review meetings, led to greater cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe. Representatives from non-aligned countries acted as intermediaries, helping to broker deals between members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact. The Vienna Review Meeting introduced recognition of the rights of emigration and religious freedom, which helped to open ties between Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, the Vienna meetings launched a new series of CSCE conferences on the Human Dimension that took place concurrently with, and contributed to, widespread political and social changes in Europe. These shifts helped bring an end to Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War.

history.state.gov

Decades after I marched in Selma, I’m watching injustice rear its ugly head again.

I didn’t shed blood on the bridge in Selma for my right to vote — just to let this President and Russia’s President poison our elections.

I didn’t get beaten by angry mobs for my right to vote — just so this President could appoint a Supreme Court Justice that would eliminate our rights.

And my dear friends didn’t die in protest of inequality — just to watch this President treat our immigrant brothers and sisters like criminals.

After violence between neo-Nazis and good people in Charlottesville, I witnessed this President place equal blame on both sides. I simply won’t stomach that — If you can’t stomach it either will you donate $5 and join me?

I watched this President rip newborn infants from their mothers’ arms, put them into cages, and leave them separated for weeks on end. I refuse to let his reign of terror continue — If you’re with me, will you donate $5?31

I witnessed this President cower before a foreign adversary and invite further interference in our democratic process. I think our leaders should protect our country from all threats — foreign and domestic — Will you donate $5 if you agree?

This President is an enemy to the democracy I spilled blood to protect.

He must be stopped. And we are the only people who can stop him.

If — and only if — we band together, will we save our democracy. None of us can do it alone. I know better than anyone it takes a movement of people taking a stand.

Democracy depends on us,

Congressman John Lewis

johnlewisforcongress.com

Hi Friends,

I just wanted to make sure you saw this message we sent out last week about our plans to stop the pro-Trump takeover of our local news stations. Almost 750 people have donated to help us keep fighting Sinclair Broadcast Group. Take a look at this email and join them! 

Until justice is real,

–Brandi

——

Dear Friends,

“This is extremely dangerous to our democracy”

That was the line about “fake news” dozens of local news anchors were forced to repeat across the country a few weeks ago, in a parrot-like mimic of Trump’s constant attacks on the media. The line was part of a speech scripted by the channels’ ultra-conservative owners, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

To me, what’s “extremely dangerous to our democracy” is the fact that Sinclair Broadcast Group, which already owns local news channels that reach 40% of U.S. households, is about to buy another media company and expand their reach to 72% of our homes. We need your support to stop this from happening. Will you invest $1 in our campaign against Sinclair today?

This is a big fight to take on, but here’s some reasons why I believe we can win:

1. We’ve won before

In 2017, after over 2 years of campaigning, we got Bill O’Reilly’s show cancelled from Fox News. O’Reilly had a history of spreading racist narratives and attacking Black people, even insulting Rep. Maxine Waters live on TV.¹

But after gathering 340,000 petition signatures, organizing rallies outside his studio, and the sexual harassment allegations that emerged against him, we finally got O’Reilly cancelled for good.²

We can beat Sinclair, just like we beat O’Reilly. Invest $1 today so we can keep funding that battle.

2. We’ve got numbers

Almost 30,000 of you have already signed our petition against Sinclair, demanding that local advertisers cut ties with the company.

If every person who signed our petition donated $1, we’d have more than enough resources to keep this fight going to the end. Will you chip in your $1 today?

3. We’re making big plans

We’ve got a full-time researcher on the case to dive deep and figure out who Sinclair’s top advertisers are, so we can pressure them into pulling their ads. Local news stations depend on advertising to survive, and if we can get enough advertisers to pull out, it will create huge pressure on Sinclair to drop their big merger.

We’re on the verge of finding Sinclair’s weak spots, but we need money to keep funding our research. Throw in $1 so our researcher can find the information she needs for us to beat Sinclair.

The Sinclair threat goes beyond planting Trump’s words in so many American homes. We also know that Black people are disproportionately impacted when local news gets pushed further to the right. In a report commissioned by Color Of Change, we found that local and national media consistently use anti-Black stereotypes, such as being on welfare or lacking family stability, in their reporting.³

When people hear these anti-Black reports on the “unbiased” news, it reinforces their racism. Worse, it allows politicians to play on those same stereotypes when making policies such as increased policing in Black communities and cuts to safety net programs like Medicare and food stamps.

We have research, numbers and past big wins on our side. We can beat Sinclair’s big merger. But only if we have the funds to do so. If you care about keeping Sinclair’s pro-Trump, anti-Black news out of our living rooms, invest $1 to keep us going today.

Until justice is real,

–Brandi, Arisha, Rashad, Evan, Jade, Johnny, Future, Corina, Chad, Mary, Angela, Saréya, Eesha, Scott and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

1. 1. “Rep. Maxine Waters claps back at Bill O’Reilly after hair insult”, USAToday, 28 March 2017, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/37124?t=11&akid=11059%2E1174326%2EJ39JY-
      
   2. “Bill O’Reilly is done”, Color Of Change, 21 April 2017, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/37125?t=14&akid=11059%2E1174326%2EJ39JY-
   3. “A Dangerous Distortion of Our Families”, Travis L. Dixon, December 2017, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/33252?t=16&akid=11059%2E1174326%2EJ39JY-

Do you see your neighbor at these trump rallies?  Are they supporting racism,  xenophobia and anti-semitic views ?