Peace and European unity
DOCUMENT
PEACE MOVEMENT acceptance of such a European outis certainly going to enable Charter 77 to establish closer links with the peace movement.
The original East-West dialogue has changed into an European dialogue, which is a step in the right direction. The authors of the Prague Appeal refer to the work of the Helsinki Conference, to its Final
They think that signing such document highlights
THE AUTHOR of the following article is the editorial writer of the underground Polish journal Robotnik and a member of the Robotnik political group. He also works with the magazine Naprzod, the organ of the Wola political group. In the monthly publication Vacat, he wrote a detailed presentation of the debates in the peace movements in the West, in which he mentioned very favorably the European
Network for East-West Dialogue (see document above).
In a contribution entitled "Not only peace,
1985, he undertook a balance sheet of the Western peace movement and explained the perspectives of a part of the Polish opposition that wants to participate in the debate with peace forces in both parts of the continent. The following are major excerpts from this article, in which the author gives his opinion on the Prague Appeal.
IGOR LEWY
It was no coincidence that the most important document at the convention
[the fourth convention of END, held in Amsterdam in July 1985] was the
Prague Appeal from Charter 77. (1)
This document expressed quite pertinently the mood and the ambiance that prevail at the moment in
West European peace movement.
It was, in this sense, a document written by Europeans who are watchthe growth of movement, rather than representing the point of view of the opposition in
The Prague Appeal some penetratingly formulated questions posed at the best possible time.
The objective of the appeal was
"overcome the division into blocs through an alliance of free and independent nations, in the framework of an autonomous democratic com-
European and living in friendship with all the nations of
It is not surprising that such an attractive vision elicited several responses during the convention, and that other responses to it are being drawn
It was a vision of a united Europe citizens" opens the way freedom and autonomy of Europe, be important, even if there was no to alter them, and where, in fact, they should be guaranteed
A way to achieve this objective was the resolution of the German question through the reunification of
" written in November Germany within the present frontiers of both states, the dissolution of the military blocs, and a reduction of the arms level sufficient to exclude the threat of aggression from either side.
These aims were generally accepted. The convention was to paths to pursue to achieve them. It is on the basis of its responses to this problem that the Amsterdam
In order to put into practice the ideas of the Appeal, these independent social movements and citizens initiatives would have to exercize growing influence over the actions of the governments.
The proof that such a situation does not exist in the West is the the movement has suffered on the question of the intermediaterange missiles. The proof that it is not possible in the East are the empty seats at the Convention set aside for delegates from the independent movements beyond the Iron Curtain.
Our presence in Amsterdam was not only symbolic. The peace activists already understand that we are indispensable, just as the support of allies in the West is indispensable for us.
of the Prague Appeal does not come simply from its content but also from the standpoint from which it was written.
virtually no national particularism. In this it could just as well have been written by someone who had never East Europe. It is a document written from a European point of view, in the broadest sense of the term. The independence and sovereignty of the contracting parties. The Czechs have concluded that standing by the letter begin having it respected in deed.
The Helsinki Accord, which was signed in the period of "detente, formally ignored the division into blocs and maintained the fiction that the signers were independent of the
However, the blocs have not ceased to exist, and that is why this magnificent document has rethe Prague Appeal, END explains its reservations about the Helsinki Accords, maintaining that "Quite often accords and other international agreements have simply been pushed aside when they were no longer useful to our leaders." And that is the fact of the
If the English complain that their government has not implemented the measures called for in the Final Act,
Czechs and
It is time to banish this much vaunted Helsinki spirit, if we want to envisage seriously acting not just in the name of justice but with effecwhy such documents have not pushed us forward, and will not, is the limited or non-existent representativeness of the people who sign them.
If, in fact, we want East-West dialogue among citizens, there no reason to keep matters on the official level in approaching the ques tions involved in treaties.
Mient Jan Faber, the leader of the Ecumenical Peace Council (IKV) in
Netherlands, East German activist, concluded an individual peace pact between themselves. This symbolic gesture is part of a large-scale
It seems that a system of such can have more meaning than A personal contact between individuals of both blocs can confidence and eliminate the fears growing out of the frictions
Indeed throughout history, war psychosis has been the
More precisely, it was from a series of prominent individuals representative of
International Viewpoint 24 March 1986
principal factor making war possible.. g
If through the signing of such individual nonaggression pacts, accords are concluded between independent social movements, and if these accords give rise to practical cooperation to realize a common political vision that goes beyond particular national interests, then we will be able to talk about a real system of guarantees, not only of peace, but also of European unity.
The coordination of political activity at an international level was, until now, the domain of the big powers, especially the Soviet Union. There is no reason why the European movement for social emancipation, for peace and integration should not be able to apply an equally effective pressure.
The culmination of these activities should be the convening of a conference on security and cooperation in Europe. The delegates to such a conference could be representatives of social movements, unions, autonomous groups, and from political organizations. That is, it should be made up 1 of ordinary people and not of professional poli-
In order to apply the Final Act
Helsinki Accords of the state machine. They do not do so because they are hypocritical about the commitments made in Helsinki because for them it was just a propaganda signatories of an eventual Helsinki I will have many fewer resources at their disposal. Their means will lie the willingness to cooperate between the different organizations and independent groups who would sign such an accord. The significance of the Final Act will depend on the number and the strength of such organizations.
PEACE MOVEMENT equal partners. In your view the the signatory states of this treaty will naturally open the way to the unification of Europe. In the face of such assertions we do not know what to think. Do you really believe that states such as the GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia are the equals of the USSR? When have they ever stopped being under Soviet tutelage either before the Accords or afterwards? Is it not the case that they have always accepted the diktats of Moscow come hell or high water? And do you really think that adding a paragraph here or there to such a document could make Belgium or the Netherlands equal to the United States in deter-
NATO policy? Is it not obvious that US imperialism enjoys an economic and military balance which allows it to brush aside objections by European governments who fear the mass reactions to missiles in their countries?
You say it is a shame that the