Finnish President Proposes U.S., China, Russia Meet for 50th Anniversary of Helsinki Accords

While the date to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords — in 2025 — is far off, a proposal for a meeting among the U.S., Russia, and China nevertheless reflects a growing reflection of the absolute need for direct discussion and cooperation among the three major world powers. In a column titled “Arctic Cool and the Spirit of Helsinki” published in Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomaton on March 28, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö “proposed to hold a Helsinki Summit in the spirit of the CSCE in 2025 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords. The summit would concentrate on climate concerns and Arctic issues and would aim to ease military tensions between major powers,” reported Euractiv on March 30, which explains: “The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was created in the early 1970s to be a platform for East-West dialogue. In 1975, it was held in Helsinki, where 35 states reached an agreement called the Helsinki Act ... [which] became the basis for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), founded in 1995.”