The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, between 30 July and 1 August 1975, following two years of negotiations known as the Helsinki Process. All then-existing European countries except Andorra and Hoxhaist Albania, as well as the United States and Canada, signed the Final Act in an attempt to improve the détente between the East and the West. The Helsinki Accords, however, were not binding as they did not have treaty status that would have to be ratified by parliaments. Sometimes the term "Helsinki pact(s)" was also used unofficially.
A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts. As a type of non-combatant status, nationals of neutral countries enjoy protection under the law of war from belligerent actions to a greater extent than other non-combatants such as enemy civilians and prisoners of war. Different countries interpret their neutrality differently: some, such as Costa Rica have demilitarized, while Switzerland holds to "armed neutrality", to deter aggression with a sizeable military, while barring itself from foreign deployment.
The Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust and cooperation between the member states of NATO and other states mostly in Europe, including post-Soviet states; 18 states are members. The program contains 6 areas of cooperation, which aims to build relationships with partners through military-to-military cooperation on training, exercises, disaster planning and response, science and environmental issues, professionalization, policy planning, and relations with civilian government. During policy negotiations in the 1990s, a primary controversy regarding PfP was its ability to be interpreted as a program that is a stepping stone for joining NATO with full Article 5 guarantees.
Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was a key element of the détente process during the Cold War. Although it did not have the force of a treaty, it recognized the boundaries of postwar Europe and established a mechanism for minimizing political and military tensions between East and West and improving human rights in the Communist Bloc. The first phase was the Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Helsinki in 1973, the second negotiations held in Geneva from 1973 to 1975, and the third the Helsinki summit in 1975. The final document was signed in Helsinki, Finland on August 1, 1975, by 33 European nations, the United States and Canada. It is often called the Helsinki Agreement. In 1994, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was established as a successor to CSCE.
The Group of Nine (G9) was an alliance of European states that met occasionally to discuss matters of mutual pan-European interest. The alliance formed in 1965, when the nine countries presented a case study at the United Nations. They co-sponsored Resolution 2129 promoting East-West cooperation in Europe, unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1965. The alliance became the Group of Ten when the Netherlands joined by parliamentary decision in 1967. Following the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the group attempted to reconcile its differences at a meeting held at the United Nations in October 1969, but failed and subsequently dissolved. All member states, with the exception of the dissolved Yugoslavia, are now part of the European Union.
NATO is a military alliance of thirty-two European and North American countries that constitutes a system of collective defense. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows for the invitation of "other European States" only and by subsequent agreements. Countries wishing to join must meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialogue and military integration. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. NATO was formed in 1949 with twelve founding members and has added new members ten times. The first additions were Greece and Turkey in 1952. In May 1955, West Germany joined NATO, which was one of the conditions agreed to as part of the end of the country's occupation by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own collective security alliance later that month. Following the end of the Franco regime, newly democratic Spain chose to join NATO in 1982.
The largest enlargement of the European Union (EU), in terms of number of states and population, took place on 1 May 2004.
NATO maintains foreign relations with many non-member countries across the globe. NATO runs a number of programs which provide a framework for the partnerships between itself and these non-member nations, typically based on that country's location. These include the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace.
From the establishment of the European Economic Community in 1957 until the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, thus during the Cold War period, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the first socialist state to develop relations with the organisation. Notwithstanding occasional and informal proposals coming from both sides, Yugoslavia never became a full member state of the EEC.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. Its capital, Belgrade, was the host of the First Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in early September 1961. The city also hosted the Ninth Summit in September 1989.
The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are two main treaty-based Western organisations for cooperation between member states, both headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Their natures are different and they operate in different spheres: NATO is a purely intergovernmental organisation functioning as a military alliance, which serves to implement article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective territorial defence. The EU on the other hand is a partly supranational and partly intergovernmental sui generis entity akin to a confederation that entails wider economic and political integration. Unlike NATO, the EU pursues a foreign policy in its own right—based on consensus, and member states have equipped it with tools in the field of defence and crisis management; the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) structure.
Finland–Yugoslavia relations were historical foreign relations between Finland and now split-up Kingdom of Yugoslavia or Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Both countries gained their independence during or in the immediate aftermath of the World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary (Yugoslavia) or Russian Empire (Finland). Two parties established formal bilateral relations in 1928. Two countries developed their relations after the end of the World War II and 1948 Tito–Stalin split. At the time neither one of them was a part of either Eastern or Western Bloc in the Cold War divided Europe. Both countries perceived development of relations among non-bloc neutral European states as a way to avoid isolation and preserve certain level of independence without alienating major powers. Belgrade however perceived that in deeply divided Europe there was shrinking maneuvering space for neutral countries and followed the development of what will be called process of Finlandization with great concern. It therefore turned its focus on new allies among former colonies and mandate territories outside of Europe where it developed its policy of equidistant active neutrality via its activities in the newly founded Non-Aligned Movement.
Sweden–Yugoslavia relations were historical foreign relations between Sweden and now split-up Yugoslavia. During the Cold War both Sweden and Yugoslavia refused to formally join either NATO or the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Both countries nevertheless had developed relations with NATO. Sweden preferred formal military neutrality in order to strengthen the neutrality claim of Finland, while post-1948 Tito-Stalin split Yugoslavia indirectly associated itself with NATO via the Balkan Pact during the Informbiro period.
The European Union (EU) is an institution of its own kind consisting of member states being part of an alliance as well as military neutral member states while developing a Common Foreign and Security Policy for the union as a whole. The military neutral member states are Austria, Ireland and Malta. Previous military neutral states are Finland and Sweden.
1978 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, between 25 and 30 July 1978. The conference was organized as a preparatory event ahead of the divisive 6th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement which took place in Havana next year. The NAM member states were deeply divided over Cuban military actions in Africa and country's pro-Soviet politics with some of them threatened to boycott the Summit in Havana. The host country of Yugoslavia was recognized as the leader of the middle ground delegations which wanted to overcome divisions and radicalism and was in this effort supported primarily by India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
The Mediterranean island country of Cyprus was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement with Makarios III attending the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia in 1961, just one year after the Cypriot independence. Membership in the movement was perceived as one of two major foreign-policy alternatives with the first one being formal membership in NATO at least nominally supported by both Greece and Turkey in the initial period after the London and Zürich Agreements, and the second one being pro-Western participation in the Non-Aligned Movement. The United Kingdom and the United States preferred this second option at least until 1963.
Austria and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have a close relationship. Austria with Ireland, Cyprus and Malta are the only members of the European Union that are not members of NATO. Austria has had formal relations with NATO since 1995, when it joined the Partnership for Peace programme.
Malta was the third European member state of the Non-Aligned Movement joining it in 1973. The country remained a part of the movement until 2004 when one of the requirements of the 2004 enlargement of the European Union was for Malta to leave the Non-Aligned Movement. European integration process therefore affected and limited further Maltese integration and engagement with its Non-Aligned neighbouring states.
Malta and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have a close relationship. Malta is one of four members of the European Union that are not members of NATO, the others being Austria, Cyprus and Ireland. Malta has had formal relations with NATO since 1995, when it joined the Partnership for Peace programme. While it withdrew in 1996, it rejoined as a member in 2008.
