News / After 35 Years, Helsinki Final Act Has Not Lost Relevance, Says OSCE Chair

“The Helsinki Final Act remains as relevant today as it was when it was signed 35 years ago”, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister and Secretary of State Kanat Saudabayev said ahead of the August 1 anniversary. “The innovative and comprehensive concept of security that was established by the leaders of 35 states in Helsinki remains today an important factor of security and co-operation in the OSCE area of responsibility,” he said.
“At the same time, truly tectonic changes in the world that have taken place, particularly in recent years, require the OSCE participating States, and first and foremost their leaders, to search for adequate responses to these new challenges and threats. This is why the timeliness of an OSCE summit in Astana this year is difficult to overestimate. Our aim is to move from the concept of a ‘space of security from Vancouver to Vladivostok’ to the creation of a single Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian community of security.”
Saudabayev added: “We believe that a result of the summit will be a new ‘Spirit of Astana’ that will naturally and logically stem from the new geopolitical realities and the Helsinki Final Act.
This will represent a commendable way to mark the anniversary of the Organization and will encourage new achievements in the 21st century.”