Chronology of the meetings held by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) from 1972 to 1992, including the main follow-up meetings and the special inter-sessional meetings.

'A year on from Helsinki - Cheers! Here's to more success'. One year after the Conference on security and cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Fritz Behrendt is strongly critical of the easing of East-West hostilities.

‘Human rights are in the third basket …’ In 1977, at the first Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) held in Belgrade, the cartoonist, Hans Geisen, considers the irreconcilable positions of the despondent Western countries and the ever-triumphant Soviet Union, which is ignoring its human rights commitments.

‘Operation successful, patient dead!' In February 1978, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, takes a critical look at the work of the first Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) held in Belgrade. During the initial review of the implementation of the CSCE commitments, the Soviet Union succeeds in eradicating the ‘heart' of the Helsinki Agreements: the fundamental issue of human rights.

In the concluding document of the First Follow-Up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), held in Belgrade from 4 October 1977 to 9 March 1978, the representatives of the participating States note the difficulties and obstacles encountered in implementing the provisions of the Final Act, as well as the lack of consensus on various proposals submitted to the meeting.

‘CSCE: the outcome.’ In March 1978, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, portrays the failure of the meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Belgrade.

In an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on 11 November 1980, the day of the opening, in Madrid, of the second CSCE Follow-up Meeting, Alain Ravennes, Secretary General of the Comité des Intellectuels pour l’Europe des Libertés (Committee of Intellectuals for a Free Europe — CIEL), criticises the lack of balance and reciprocity in the negotiations between the Soviets and the West and calls on the Western countries to demand that the Soviets comply in full with the Helsinki commitments before any talks can start.

This article, which was published on 18 November 1980 in the Spanish daily newspaper El País, one week after the opening of the second Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), comments on the differences of opinion between the Eastern and Western participating States during negotiations which resemble a dialogue of the deaf.

On 15 March 1981, more than six months after the start, in Madrid, of the preparatory work for the Second Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Max Kampelman, Ambassador and Head of the US Delegation to the Conference, grants an interview to the Spanish daily newspaper El País.

On 27 February 1982, a year and a half after the start, in Madrid, of the preparatory work for the Second Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Leonid Ilichev, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the Soviet Delegation to the Conference, gives his country’s views on the progress of the negotiations in an article published in the Spanish daily newspaper El País.

The Concluding Document of the Second Follow-Up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), held in Madrid from 11 November 1980 to 9 September 1983, notes serious deficiencies in the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act and reaffirms the commitment of the participating States to respect the principles which govern their mutual relations, with particular regard to the peaceful settlement of disputes, disarmament and human rights.

Published in the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir on 4 November 1986, the day of the opening, in Vienna, of the third CSCE Follow-up Meeting, this article traces the history of the Helsinki Process and comments on the context in which the next stage of negotiations will be carried out.

This article, published in the Netherlands daily newspaper De Volkskrant on 4 November 1986, the day of the opening, in Vienna, of the Third CSCE Follow-up Meeting, gives an account of the Helsinki Process and comments on the context in which the negotiations will be conducted. The opening of the negotiations is marred by the failure of the Reykjavik Summit on nuclear disarmament, held from 10 to 12 October between the United States and the USSR.

On 14 April 1987, at the end of the second session of the Third CSCE Follow-up Meeting which began in Vienna on 4 November 1986, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the scepticism of the participants as to the possibility of meeting the deadline established for the drafting of the final document because of the controversies between East and West in the areas of human rights and disarmament.

In the Concluding Document of the Third Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), held in Vienna from 4 November 1986 to 19 January 1989, the participating States note progress in mutual relations, deem the implementation of some of the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and other CSCE documents — with particular regard to human rights — to be inadequate and decide to strengthen their cooperation with regard to CSCE follow-up activities.