asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will detail this country's position with regard to the Helsinki Accord and the Government's views on the conference (details supplied) to be held in Vienna on 29-30 November 1986.
Written Answers. - Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
47.
Ireland is fully committed to the process initiated by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) which seeks to achieve more stable and secure relations in a divided Europe. The CSCE Final Act, which was signed in Helsinki on 1 August 1975, sets out ten Principles to guide relations between the States of Europe and North America (except Albania), irrespective of their political, economic and social systems. It also contains a balanced and comprehensive programme of measures for co-operation in the areas of military security, economics, science, technology and the environment, as well as in the humanitarian, cultural and information fields. Although it is not a legally binding document, the Final Act represents a solemn political commitment by all the thirty-five signatory States.
Ireland values the CSCE as a framework in which the problems of interaction in Europe can be addressed and as a network of contact and exchange which has endured in the face of international tensions and adverse developments within and beyond Europe. We attach particular significance to the human rights and related humanitarian provisions of the Final Act and to the recognition that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is an essential factor for peace, justice and well-being necessary to ensure the development of friendly relations and co-operation between States.
The third CSCE follow-up meeting opened in Vienna on 4 November and will continue its deliberations into 1987. The purpose of this meeting, like that of the previous follow-up meetings in Belgrade and Madrid, is to review the extent to which the participating States have honoured the commitments entered into in Helsinki and at subsequent meetings. It will also discuss new measures designed to stimulate and improve implementation and will examine further means of developing and intensifying relations between the States concerned and of giving a new impetus to the process of detente.
When addressing the opening session of the Vienna meeting, I drew attention to the importance Ireland attaches to the human rights and related humanitarian provisions of the Final Act and the Madrid Concluding Document. I also highlighted areas where violations of these provisions persisted and stressed the urgent need for discernible improvements. In the course of the Vienna meeting the Irish delegation will continue to press for full implementation of all the CSCE commitments by the participating States, and, in particular, its provisions for human rights and human contacts. Together with our Community partners they will work for a substantive and balanced outcome of the meeting and for concrete progress towards more secure, humane and co-operative conditions in Europe.
Many conferences, symposia and other similar events are being organised in the margins of the Vienna meeting by both Austrian and international groups and non-governmental organisations, of which the conference mentioned by the Deputy may be one. Ireland attaches importance to the role of individuals and private organisations in contributing towards the achievement of the aims of the CSCE in accordance with the terms of Principle IX of the Helsinki Final Act.