The Charter of Paris for a New Europe (also known as the Paris Charter) was adopted by a summit meeting of most

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an governments in addition to those of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

from 19–21 November 1990. The charter was established on the foundation of the

Helsinki Accords 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 ...

and was further amended in the 1999

Charter for European Security The 1999 Istanbul Summit was the 6th Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) summit and was held in Istanbul, Turkey from November 18 until November 19, resulting in the adoption of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the sign ...

. Together, these documents form the agreed basis for the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

. However, not all OSCE member countries have signed the treaty. The Charter was one of many attempts to seize the opportunity of the

fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

by actively inviting the former Eastern Bloc-countries into the ideological framework of the West. It has been compared to the Conference of Versailles of 1919 or the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

of 1815 in its grandiose ambition to reshape Europe. In effect, the Paris Summit was the peace conference of the Cold War: '' Perestroika'' had ultimately put an end to the ideological and political division of the Iron Curtain. Pluralist

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

and market economy were together with

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and

multilateralism In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Definitions Multilateralism, in the form of membership in international institutions, serves to bind powerful nations, discourage ...

seen as the victors. The Charter established an ''Office for Free Elections'' (later renamed

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...

) in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, a ''Conflict Prevention Centre'' in Vienna, and a secretariat. Later, in 1992, a Secretary General was also appointed. It was agreed that the Foreign Ministers are to convene regularly for political consultations. British Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

attended the summit while undergoing a challenge to her leadership of the country's ruling

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, and it was while in Paris that she learned she had not obtained sufficient votes in the first round of the party's

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

to be declared the winner outright, necessitating a further round of voting. Thatcher later claimed that the fact she was in Paris and unable to begin immediately rallying support was one of the factors that led to her leaving the leadership election and resigning as party leader and Prime Minister.

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Charter
Political charters Treaties concluded in 1990 1990 in Europe 1990 in the European Economic Community Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 1990 in international relations Treaties of the Soviet Union 1990 in France

See also

References

External links