HC Deb 16 June 1976 vol 913 cc527-31
10. Mr. Sproat

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed the implementation of the Helsinki Agreement with the Soviet Ambassador.

Mr. Tomlinson

My right hon. Friend has not yet had an opportunity to discuss this subject with the Soviet Ambassador. It is, however, a topic that he has very much in mind. The Soviet Ambassador is calling on him later this afternoon and their discussion is likely to include CSCE implementation.

Mr. Sproat

When the Minister's right hon. Friend speaks to the Soviet Ambassador this afternoon will he make it clear that the review conference at Belgrade next year must include not just consideration of proposals for future co-operation but a detailed scrutiny of the way in which the various signatories to the Helsinki Agreement have or have not carried out that agreement? Will he make it clear that Belgrade must not be just a meeting of civil servants but must be conducted at a high political level?

Mr. Tomlinson

I am sure that my right hon. Friend heard what the hon. Member said. The review conference is more than a year away and it is too early to have any details in terms of our formal negotiating position. The progress achieved by the participating States in the intervening period clearly will be an important factor affecting our thinking.

Mr. Amery

Is the Minister aware that there is widespread anxiety in a number of countries, caused by the concept attributed to Dr. Kissinger's aide, Mr. Sohnenfeldt, of the organic relation between the countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union? Whether this concept was rightly or wrongly attributed, it has been very widespread. Will the Foreign Secretary make it quite clear that we have no part in any such concept?

Mr. Tomlinson

It is our understanding that this was totally wrongly attributed.

Mr. Heffer

At the review conference in Belgrade, is the Minister prepared to enter discussions on freedom of travel from Eastern European countries? I have a constituent who wants to marry a Romanian subject. That person wants to come here after the marriage but has been refused permission to leave Romania. This has caused great distress. In view of the fact that the Soviet Union has tremendous influence with the rest of the Communist countries in Eastern Europe, this matter of free travel should be fully explored and brought home to them very clearly.

Mr. Tomlinson

I am sure that the Government share my hon. Friend's concern about freedom of travel. If he will let me have the details of this particular case, we shall look into it.

Mr. Blaker

In spite of the Helsinki Agreement, the Soviet Union continues to make clear that détente is no bar to their efforts to overthrow the Western way of life, legally or illegally, peacefully or by non-peaceful means. Will the Secretary of State make it clear to the Soviet Ambassador that this is not acceptable?

Mr. Tomlinson

There would be differences of view about some of the definitions of détente. The Soviet Government have taken steps in a number of fields to apply the principles of the Helsinki Agreement and a note outlining the actions they have taken towards implementation of the Final Act appeared in Hansard on 10th March. There has since been a Soviet notification of a second military manoeuvre. However, we are mistaken if we have expectations of achieving success in every area of the Helsinki Agreement. What we have to do in future talks between the participating countries is to try to consolidate what has been achieved.

12. Mr. Janner

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied with the implementation of the Final Act of the Helsinki Agreement.

Mr. Tomlinson

I would refer my hon. and learned Friend to the answer on this point given by my right hon. Friend on 10th March. We shall not be satisfied until all the points in the Final Act are being met by all signatories. Some progress is being made to adjust existing practices to the provisions of the Final Act. But any proper assessment must wait until the 1977 review meeting.

Mr. Janner

Will the Minister congratulate the producers of the Granada "World in Action" film which was smuggled out of the Soviet Union and shown on television on Monday night? This film revealed in the clearest terms the callous way in which the Soviet Union is disregarding the Final Act, particularly in relation to its Jewish minority. When the Foreign Secretary sees the Soviet Ambassador this afternoon, will he please convey the anxiety felt on all sides of the House in connection with this ill treatment?

Mr. Tomlinson

I note what my hon. and learned Friend said in relation to the "World in Action" film. The Final Act of the conference does provide for freer movement of individuals and families for short visits and settlement. I quote from a passage in a speech by the previous Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Huyton (Sir Harold Wilson) on 30th July 1975. He said: I hope that what we have each committed ourselves to in Europe can apply to those within our own countries who want to start a new life outside Europe, whether it be in the Middle East or elsewhere. Those are sentiments that will be echoed on all sides of this House.

Sir John Hall

Long before the Helsinki Conference concluded, the Inter-Parliamentary Union held a conference in Helsinki, over which I presided. In less than five days that conference produced an agreement as comprehensive as the latest formal agreement of the Helsinki Conference on European security. In view of that fact, would it not be cheaper and more satisfactory to allow such conferences in future to be conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union?

Mr. Tomlinson

I do not think that comments of such a pessimistic nature as that are necessarily helpful to the Belgrade Review Conference.

Mr. Whitehead

As the Final Act of the Helsinki Agreement has a specific section about newspaper circulation, will the Minister make representations to the Government of Czechoslovakia, who have stopped the circulation and sale in their country of all British newspapers, including the Morning Star?

Mr. Tomlinson

I shall be grateful if my hon. Friend will write to me about this matter, and I will look at it.

Mr. Rifkind

Is there any tangible evidence at all that the Soviet Union and its allies have changed their fundamental attitude towards the human rights of a number of their own citizens? Will the Government indicate whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the spirit of the Soviet Union's implementation of the Helsinki Agreement?

Mr. Tomlinson

As I have already said, a note outlining the actions that the Soviet Union has taken appeared in Hansard on 10th March. Obviously the Government are not going to be satisfied until all aspects of the agreement are fully implemented by the signatories to it.