Helsinki Accords

Helsinki Final Act Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Final Act
The front page of the Helsinki Accords
Host country	Finland
Date	30 July – 1 August 1975
Venue(s)	Finlandia Hall
Cities	Helsinki
Participants	Helmut Schmidt Erich Honecker Gerald Ford Bruno Kreisky Leo Tindemans Todor Zhivkov Pierre Trudeau Makarios III Anker Jørgensen Carlos Arias Navarro Urho Kekkonen Valéry Giscard d’Estaing Harold Wilson Konstantinos Karamanlis János Kádár Liam Cosgrave Geir Hallgrímsson Aldo Moro Walter Kieber Gaston Thorn Dom Mintoff André Saint-Mleux Trygve Bratteli Joop den Uyl Edward Gierek Francisco da Costa Gomes Nicolae Ceaușescu Gian Luigi Berti Agostino Casaroli Olof Palme Pierre Graber Gustáv Husák Süleyman Demirel Leonid Brezhnev Josip Broz Tito
Precedes	Paris Charter

The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, between 30 July and 1 August 1975, following two years of negotiations known as the Helsinki Process.^[1] All then-existing European countries except Andorra and Hoxhaist Albania, as well as the United States and Canada (altogether 35 participating states), signed the Final Act in an attempt to improve the détente between the East and the West. The Helsinki Accords, however, were not binding as they did not have treaty status that would have to be ratified by parliaments.^[2] Sometimes the term "Helsinki pact(s)" was also used unofficially.^[3]