CSCE Budapest Declaration,
Towards A Genuine Partnership In A New Era,
DOC.RC/1/95 (21 December 1994)
1. We, the Heads of State or Government of the States participating in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, have met in Budapest to assess together the recent past, to consider the present and to look to the future. We do so as we approach the Fiftieth Anniversary of the end of World War II and the Twentieth Anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, and as we commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
2. We believe in the central role of the CSCE in building a secure and stable CSCE community, whole and free. We reaffirm the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent CSCE documents. They reflect shared values which will guide our policies, individually and collectively, in all organizations and institutions to which we belong.
3. The CSCE is the security structure embracing States from Vancouver to Vladivostok. We are determined to give a new political impetus to the CSCE, thus enabling it to play a cardinal role in meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. To reflect this determination, the CSCE will henceforth be known as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
4. The CSCE has been instrumental in overcoming barriers and in managing change throughout our region. Since we last met, there have been further encouraging developments. Most vestiges of the Cold War have disappeared. Free elections have been held and the roots of democracy have spread and struck deeper. Yet the path to stable democracy, efficient market economy and social justice is a hard one.
5. The spread of freedoms has been accompanied by new conflicts and the revival of old ones. Warfare in the CSCE region to achieve hegemony and territorial expansion continues to occur. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are still flouted, intolerance persists and discrimination against minorities is practised. The plagues of aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and ethnic tension are still widespread. Along with social and economic instability, they are among the main sources of crisis, loss of life and human misery. They reflect failure to apply the CSCE principles and commitments. This situation requires our resolute action. We must work together to ensure full respect for these principles and commitments as well as effective solidarity and co-operation to relieve suffering.
6. We recognize that societies in the CSCE region are increasingly threatened by terrorism. We reiterate our unreserved condemnation of all acts and practices of terrorism, which cannot be justified under any circumstances. We reconfirm our determination to combat terrorism and our commitment for enhanced co-operation to eliminate this threat to security, democracy and human rights.
7. The CSCE will be a forum where concerns of participating States are discussed, their security interests are heard and acted upon. We will further enhance its role as an instrument for the integration of these States in resolving security problems. Through the CSCE, we will build a genuine security partnership among all participating States, whether or not they are members of other security organizations. In doing so, we will be guided by the CSCE's comprehensive concept of security and its indivisibility, as well as by our commitment not to pursue national security interests at the expense of others. The CSCE's democratic values are fundamental to our goal of a community of nations with no divisions, old or new, in which the sovereign equality and the independence of all States are fully respected, there are no spheres of influence and the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or of belonging to a minority, are vigorously protected.
8. The CSCE will be a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management in the region. We have agreed that the participating States may in exceptional circumstances jointly decide that a dispute will be referred to the United Nations Security Council on behalf of the CSCE. We have also decided to pursue more systematic and practical co-operation between the CSCE and European and other regional and transatlantic organizations and institutions that share its values and objectives.
9. The CSCE has created new tools to deal with new challenges. In this regard, we welcome the entry into force of the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the CSCE. We will further enhance the CSCE's role and capabilities in early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management, using, inter alia, CSCE peacekeeping operations and missions. We will provide consistent political support and adequate resources for CSCE efforts. We have agreed to strengthen the CSCE's political consultative and decision-making bodies and its executive action by the Chairman-in-Office, supported by the Troika, as well as other CSCE procedures and institutions, in particular the Secretary General and the Secretariat, the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. We have also decided to enhance our contacts and dialogue with the CSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
10. Continuing the CSCE's norm-setting role, we have established a "Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security" that, inter alia, sets forth principles guiding the role of armed forces in democratic societies.
11. We welcome the adoption by the CSCE Forum for Security Co-operation of substantial measures, including a new, developed Vienna Document 1994. A compendium of related measures is annexed to Decision V of the Budapest Document. In order to provide further momentum to arms control, disarmament and confidence- and security-building that adds to earlier decisions and agreements, we have directed it to continue its work in accordance with its mandate and to develop a framework which will serve as a basis for an agenda for establishing new measures of arms control, including in particular confidence- and security-building. We have also mandated it to address specific regional security problems, with special emphasis on longer-term stability in South-Eastern Europe.
12. In view of the new threats posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, we have agreed on basic principles to guide our national policies in support of common non-proliferation objectives. We are strongly committed to the full implementation and indefinite and unconditional extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We welcome the recent statements by the four nuclear-weapon-States in the CSCE region relating to nuclear testing as being consistent with negotiation of a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty. We urge that all signatories to the Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling or Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction complete the ratification process in the shortest possible time. We also underline the importance of an early entry into force and implementation of the Treaty on Open Skies.
13. In light of continuing rapid change, we deem it important to start discussion on a model of common and comprehensive security for our region for the twenty-first century, based on the CSCE principles and commitments. This discussion will take into account the CSCE's contribution to security, stability and co-operation. The Chairman-in-Office will present a progress report to the next Ministerial Council in 1995 in Budapest. The results of discussion on such a security model will be submitted to our next Summit Meeting in Lisbon in 1996.
14. We confirm the significance of the Human Dimension in all the activities of the CSCE. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law is an essential component of security and co-operation in the CSCE region. It must remain a primary goal of CSCE action. Periodic reviews of implementation of our commitments, fundamental throughout the CSCE, are critical in the Human Dimension. The enhanced capabilities of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will continue to assist participating States, in particular those in transition. We underline the importance of human contacts in overcoming the legacy of old divisions.
15. We recognize that market economy and sustainable economic development are integral to the CSCE's comprehensive concept of security. We encourage the strengthening of co-operation to support the transition processes, regional co-operation and environmental responsibility. We welcome the role played by the relevant international organizations and institutions, such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, OECD, EBRD and EIB, in support of the CSCE's economic dimension priorities. We are committed to enhancing the effectiveness of the Economic Forum and of the CSCE's other economic dimension activities. We ask the Chairman-in-Office to explore ways to integrate economic dimension issues into the tasks faced by the CSCE and report on progress at our next Summit Meeting.
16. We welcome the Declaration of Paris which launched the process aimed at the establishment of a Pact on Stability, as well as the intention expressed therein to entrust the CSCE with following the implementation of the Pact.
17. Strengthening security and co-operation in the Mediterranean is important for stability in the CSCE region. We welcome progress towards peace in the Middle East and its positive implications for European security. The common position adopted by Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia on CSCE-Mediterranean relations encourages us to deepen the long-standing relationship and reinforce co-operation between the CSCE and the non-participating Mediterranean States.
18. We note with satisfaction the development of our relationship with Japan.
We welcome the interest of the Republic of Korea which has attended the CSCE Summit Meeting for the first time and of other States in the CSCE's experience and activities, and express our readiness to co-operate with them in areas of mutual interest.
19. In order to move towards a genuine partnership in a new era, we have today adopted the Budapest Decisions which will be implemented fully and in good faith.
20. We entrust the Ministerial Council with the further steps which may be required to implement them. The Council may adopt any amendment to the decisions which it may deem appropriate.
21. The full text of the Budapest Document will be published in each participating State, which will make it known as widely as possible.
22. The Government of Hungary is requested to transmit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations the text of the Budapest Document, which is not eligible for registration under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, with a view to its circulation to all the members of the Organization as an official document of the United Nations.
Budapest, 6 December 1994
