Statement by Dr. Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Plenary meeting of the CSBM Negotiations on Confidence- and Security-building Measures Vienna, 20 November 1991
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Mr. Chairman,
I am pleased to be able to address this Plenary meeting of the CSBM negotiations in this historic setting. Your negotiations are part of a process which started in the early 70s and reached its first culmination in the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975.
The Final Act contained the seeds of change. Little did we anticipate in 1975 the revolutionary events in the continent fifteen years later. People and ideas have been the drivinq force behind the transition. The Helsinki process has been one of the essential instruments of these developments.
The Vienna negotiations on military security have played a key role in this transformation. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe is a unique achievement and a cornerstone of the new military order. Building upon the Stockholm Document of 1986, the participating States
negotiated the Vienna Document 1990 on confidence- and security-building measures. The CFE Treaty and the Vienna Document were, rightfully, parts of the historic package of agreements adopted in the context of the Paris CSCE Summit exactly a year ago.
The basic approach of CSBMs is obviously gaining ground in Europe. All participating States are striving towards enhanced openness through exchange of information and verification. I am convinced that we have qood chances to make progress in this regard and that a further and consolidated CSBM document will be ready by the Helsinki Follow-up Meeting. Thus the CSCE will maintain its role as a significant component in an evolving security structure.
Informal consultations are being conducted here in Vienna to prepare for new military negotiations, a new security forum, to be launched next year, after the Helsinki Follow-up Meeting. The new negotiations will build upon the results of earlier fora. The commitments already agreed upon must be scrupulously implemented.
Questions relating to "harmonizing" the CSBM and CFE regimes with each other will no doubt figure high on the post-Helsinki agenda. We agree with those who think that the two regimes should he brought closer together in a manner which will ensure that the security of no participant is adversely attected.
There are a number of factors which currently influence the northern European situation. Great-power confrontation is being replaced by a willingness to co-operate in the field of military security also in this region. Finland welcomes the reciprocal steps to reduce nuclear deployments in our immediate vicinity. Yet we would like to see not only nuclear but also conventional cruise missiles abolished. The central strategic balance will continue to be crucially important for stability.
The Soviet Union is in the process of fundamental change. Much of the powers of the central union authorities are being transferred to the republics. The Russian Federation, which borders Finland, has assumed a key role.
Finland has recently concluded negotiations with the Soviet Union on a new bilateral treaty which is to be signed in the near future and which will replace the previous bilateral treaty of 1948. The new treaty is based on UN and CSCE principles. As such it is, both in content ana norm, in line with similar documents the Soviet Government has concluded with other European countries over the past year. We are also in the process of establishing direct relations with the Russian Federation.
The resumption of independence by the Baltic States has been a development of momentous importance for Finland as well as for our Nordic neighbours. Together with the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from the Baltic States, it removes a potential source of tension in the Baltic Sea region.
In the situation thus emerged, we consider it of particular importance that the Baltic States become full- fledged and active participants in the CSCE co-operation concerning military security. We welcome the arrangement through which the Baltic States are integrated into CFE implementation in a manner which will respect their sovereignty.
Deep cuts in the conventional forces deployed in Central Europe will not at this stage be matched by similar development in northern Europe. This is a consideration that we will keep in mind in the mandate negotiations.
From our point of view, the future negotiations should put special emphasis on dealing also with security problems affecting some but not necessarily all participants. The regional approach offers unique possibilities in the now security constellation and may become a welcome innovation of the post-Helsinki negotiations.
We would wish to see measures aiming at further reductions of military forces and restrictions of their activities in our region. There are specific issues concerning land, air and naval forces and activities which deserve to be jointly addressed by countries having security concerns in the region. Regional measures ought to be negotiated as part of the overall CSCE process and be worked out under the auspices of the 38 participating States in open-ended, transparent sub-fora.
Finland has presented its views on the contours of the new security forum. The Forum would rest on two pillars; independent arms control negotiations and an enhanced Conflict Prevention Centre. The new terms of reference should be rather inclusive than exclusive. They should ensure a capability of the 38 States to negotiate on military security in a new environment. They should be flexible and ensure productive negotiations. In a nutshell, the terms of reference for the future negotiations should reflect the new European realities in both form and content.
It has been very encouraging to see how vigorously the so-called Open Skies negotiations are underway here in Vienna parallel to other military negotiations. Unfortunately, we have not been able to join these negotiations as a full participant. The notion of the indivisibility of security is very much relevant here. The future regime will be incomplete if Finland and others will continue to be excluded. We hope that the negotiations will bear fruit by March and that the countries who still today participate as observers will by then be fully integrated in the process. The Open Skies regime would make a meaningful contribution to the further strengthened confidence and security in Europe.
Tomorrow, it will be exactly one year since the adoption of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe. That document established new structures and institutions for the CSCE. We are presently going through a trial period. The Paris decisions are to be reviewed at the Helsinki Follow-up Meeting.
The Yugoslav tragedy has confirmed us all of the necessity to rapidly enhance the CSCE crisis management and conflict prevention capabilities. We are convinced that the CPC could and should have a crucial role in thic regard. The fighting and killing in Yugoslavia must come to an end. We in the CSCE have to do our utmost to prevent repetition or similar tragedies in the future.
The January meeting of the CSCE Council in Prague will provide an important opportunity in the further development of the CSCE institutions and structures. It will indeed be a milestone on the way to Helsinki and in further developing the CSCE.
A reasonable timetable for the preparations for the new forum would provide for extensive agreement on all basic issues by the end of the informal consultations in Vienna in March next year. Facilitated by such results, the Follow-up Meeting could then be realistically expected to finalize the agreement by the Helsinki Summit, which we anticipate to be held in June - July next year.
The flexibility of the CSCE process is something we chould strive to retain and to cultivate. If today provides a road map for tomorrow, we will be facing a Europe more complex and volatile than the one we have just left behind. The essence of European security will lie in a comprehensive approach to security, covering issues ranging from disarmament to human rights, from economy to environment. With the help of the CSCE all these issues could be encompassed by one structure. This provides a vision for tackling now problems emerging in Europe.
I will personally be very glad to welcome those of you who will join us in the Finnish capital on the 24th of March next year.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman