Word: helsinki
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the U.S. refused to go along with the Soviets' highly publicized moratorium on nuclear-weapons testing, announced just before the meeting in Helsinki two weeks ago, Administration officials were faced with a propaganda problem they hoped would quickly fade. But even as the two sides prepare for an international nuclear nonproliferation conference in Geneva later this month, the Soviets seem to be deftly augmenting their unexpected public relations advantage. Last week they offered to allow international experts to inspect two of their civilian nuclear-power reactors--a first. Meanwhile, questions continued to be raised, in the U.S. and abroad...
...Europeans caught between the superpowers, any offer to decelerate the arms race is bound to look attractive. In Helsinki, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze proved himself as much a master of public relations as Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. That was at least partly because Shevardnadze is a new face. But the Soviets helped themselves by holding on-the-record press conferences that received wider play than the background briefings given by U.S. officials...
Reagan will criticize Gorbachev for his government's treatment of Jews. Andrei Sakharov and other dissidents; its oppression in Eastern Europe; and its failure to comply with the Helsinki accords...
...Western diplomats, Shevardnadze offers competent, but far from exhaustive, position summaries. A Communist apparatchik in his home republic of Georgia, Shevardnadze rarely traveled abroad until he was tapped by the party leadership for his present post last July 2. But he has gained visible confidence in recent visits to Helsinki, Paris and twice to the U.S. Says one senior Western diplomat: "The guiding hand of Gorbachev can be seen behind...
...Helsinki accords, signed by Washington and Moscow as well as 33 other nations, committed those nations to "respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief." Often citing this document, Jimmy Carter turned America's concern for individual freedoms into a high-visibility moral crusade. Although Reagan has not been as vocal as Carter in condemning human rights violations, he will not be silent at the negotiating table. After years of stonewalling references to Helsinki's human rights provisions, the Soviets now frequently invoke them when accusing America of abuses, creating a distorted mirror...