asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if any representations have been made to the Government of the USSR in relation to a resolution of the plenary session of the European Parliament concerning the actions of the Soviet Union in implementing the Helsinki Agreement, with special regard to the position of anti-semitic literature in the Soviet Union.
Written Answers. - Helsinki Agreement.
92.
I assume that the Deputy is referring to the resolution adopted by the European Parliament last November on the situation of the Jewish community in the Soviet Union, the contents of which I have noted.
As the Deputy will be aware, the resolution explicitly relates to matters covered by the process initiated at Helsinki by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe—the CSCE—and, in particular, to the implementation of certain provisions of the Helsinki Final Act. The Final Act contains a set of principles guiding relations between the 35 participating states. It includes a series of agreed measures designed to improve co-operation in the field of military security, economic relations, science and technology and provisions governing a number of humanitarian issues, as well as co-operation in the information, education and cultural fields.
At the Belgrade meeting which ended early last year, the extent to which the participating states had carried out their commitments under the Final Act was reviewed. Ireland, together with our partners, stressed our view that to be effective the CSCE process must be based not only on the relaxation of tensions and growing co-operation between states but also on respect for human rights within states. We made it clear that we considered it important to carry out the provisions of the Final Act in all its aspects, including those provisions in regard to human rights and such humanitarian issues as family reunification.
A further meeting to review the progress achieved in complying with the provisions of the Final Act will take place in Madrid at the end of 1980. With this in view, Ireland will continue to consult and co-ordinate with our partners on developments relating to the CSCE process and to monitor implementation of the Final Act's provisions by all the participating states, including those provisions to which the Deputy's question referred. We will not hesitate to point to the danger for the CSCE process if states confine their implementation of the Final Act to certain limited and selective measures.