§ 82. Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest progress of talks at Helsinki to prepare for the conference on security and co-operation in Europe.
§ Mr. AmeryTalks to prepare for a conference on security and co-operation in Europe opened in Helsinki on 22nd November. Thirty-four countries including the United States and Canada are taking part, the great majority represented by ambassadors accredited to the Finnish Government.
The participants have reached agreement on procedures for the talks. They are now nearing the end of a series of 302W opening statements about the tasks of the preparatory talks and of the conference itself. In our view the main business of the talks is to formulate the agenda and terms of reference for the committees and sub-committees which will do the detailed work of the conference, and to settle the procedures, date and site for the conference.
It is not possible to say when the talks will end or whether they will—as we hope—lead to a conference. But they have begun in an atmosphere of promise.