In this interview excerpt, Mark Eyskens, Belgian Prime Minister in 1981 and Minister for External Relations from 1989 to 1992, explains the reasons and processes that led to the signing in Paris on 21 November 1990 of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, in which the Heads of State or Government of the States participating in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) undertake to meet the objectives of democracy, peace and unity in a new Europe after the end of the Cold War.