§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent CSCE information forum in London.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Information Forum, held at the Government's invitation in London from 18 April to 12 May 1989, was the first of the series of regular meetings in the Helsinki process following the third main CSCE follow-up meeting held in Vienna from November 1986 to January 1989. The forum was opened by the Prime Minister, and was attended by some 650 delegates from the330W 35 CSCE participating states. For the first time in CSCE meetings, all working sessions were open to the press and public.
Many personalities in the field of information participated in the forum. The British delegation was led by Lord Rees-Mogg, and included journalists, telecommunications experts, cultural personalities and academics, as well as a small number of Government officials. The forum was a success: it stimulated numerous direct personal contacts between media experts from East and West; generated worthwhile ideas for future contact and co-operation; and welcomed the progress made towards greater freedom of expression in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe whilst exposing the Governments of those countries to demands for closer compliance with their commitments in the information field. Some 67 proposals for follow-up action (largely on improving working conditions for journalists) were tabled: they will go forward to the CSCE follow-up conference at Helsinki in 1992, and will meanwhile be studied by Governments.