EUROPEAN CONTACTS

Abstract

Cooperation, one of the two main words in the official name of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and its Final Act (1975), is achieved through various instruments, among which "meetings" are often mentioned. This term is only clear at first glance, but its real significance can only be revealed if, on the one hand, the meaning of the word "meeting" is determined and, on the other hand, the importance given to it within the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act. The first requires an essential linguistic analysis of that term, and the second requires seeing how and to what extent the word is used. That's why everything else is left aside, especially possible synonyms that have the same meaning. It is usually considered and said that meetings are related to relationships between individuals, private persons, so, as part of the Final Act, they are searched for and found in the famous "third basket". Although such an understanding has its justification not only in the Final Act but also in practice, it is no less true that the Final Act speaks of meetings in the broadest sense, including meetings of states. That is why the word "meet" is used in all parts of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Three types of meetings can be distinguished in the text of the Final Act: business meetings between states and meetings between private individuals. Meetings between states (or representatives of states) are foreseen in the sections on political and military issues and on security and cooperation in the Mediterranean. Business meetings are planned in the fields of economy, technology, information, education, science and culture. It is more about connections between competent institutions, although they are realized through meetings between individuals who work in the institutions concerned. The same applies to connections between religious and other institutions or organizations. Meetings between private individuals are foreseen in the section dedicated to cooperation in "humanitarian and other fields". Under the heading "Meetings between people" (personnes) are included regular meetings based on family ties, family reunification, marriages between citizens of different backgrounds, movement for personal or professional reasons, improvement of conditions for tourism on a personal or collective basis, youth meetings, sports meetings and "expansion of encounters" (developement des contacts). The last group obviously refers to all other possible encounters that are not explicitly foreseen. The meaning of the word "encounter" seems to be clear. Meeting represents the first act or gesture of establishing any relationship. However, this is not always the case in the Final Act, as shown by the frequent use of compounds and phrases in which the order of words is not always the same, but depends on the assessment of the importance of each word in a particular case. That is why sometimes it seems that it does not correspond to a logical sequence of actions (eg "exchange, meetings and cooperation"), although the word "meeting" should always be used in the first place because the gesture must precede the achievement of the goal. The final act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe shows that the word "meeting" has a much broader meaning than is commonly thought. Regardless of the context in which the meeting takes place, it appears as a necessary instrument of international cooperation and international relations in general. The creators of the Final Act tried to point out the connection between the facts and the goals. This is much more important for practice than the search for philosophical, linguistic and other understandings.