HELSINKI: Finland on Thursday hosts a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the “Helsinki Final Act” on respecting borders and territorial integrity, principles that have come under assault following the war in Ukraine.
Keynote speakers for the conference include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Zelensky had been invited to attend the conference but will give his address remotely, the Finnish foreign ministry told AFP. Guterres will also only speak via a video message.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that Russia would be participating but would not be sending any high-level representatives to the meeting.
“Russia does not see the expediency of participating in the event at a high political level,” she told reporters, adding representatives would still “take part in the conversation.”
Notable guests include UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as well as Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday.
An opening speech is scheduled for 10:00 am (0700 GMT) by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE), Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
On August 1, 1975, 50 years ago, the Eastern and Western blocs signed the Helsinki Final Act in the Finnish capital.
The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries.
Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and above all, the inviolability of borders.
“The participating States regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers as well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting these frontiers,” the text of the treaty reads.
These commitments have been gravely challenged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has caused the most severe crisis in OSCE history.
Since then, Kyiv has unsuccessfully demanded that Russia be excluded from the international body.
However, in July 2024, Russian lawmakers earlier voted to suspend participation in the body’s parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory, although the country is still listed as a member state on the organization’s official website.
While in Finland, Sybiga is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several Finnish officials, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and other high-level officials visiting the conference, according to the Ukrainian diplomacy.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that “key topics” would include “synchronizing allied pressure on Moscow.”
Finland shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border with Russia in mid-December 2023 after the arrival of around 1,000 migrants without visas.
Helsinki has claimed the surge was orchestrated by Russia — a charge the Kremlin has denied.
Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war
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Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war
- The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries
- Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and the inviolability of borders
US accuses South Africa of harassing US officials working with Afrikaners
WASHINGTON: Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.
The State Department said that passport information of US officials was leaked and warned in a statement that “failure by the South African government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences.”
South Africa replied that the allegation was unsubstantiated and rejected “any suggestion of state involvement in such actions.”
The accusations came after South Africa arrested and expelled Wednesday seven Kenyans brought in by the US government to assist in processing Afrikaners seeking to move to the United States.
President Donald Trump’s administration has claimed Afrikaners are victims of discrimination and even “genocide,” which the Pretoria government strongly denies.
South Africa said the Kenyans arrested at a processing center on Tuesday were on tourist visas that did not allow them to work — the type of violation seized on by Trump as he carries out mass deportations from the United States.
The State Department alleged that Americans had also been briefly held in the raid, which it said the United States “condemns in the strongest terms.”
It added that officials’ passport information had been made public.
So-called doxxing, or revealing personal information, “is an unacceptable form of harassment” and puts people in harm’s way, the State Department said.
It did not immediately provide further details on the purported incident.
‘Seeking clarity’
South Africa “noted an unsubstantiated allegation regarding the private information” and was seeking clarity from Washington, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said later.
“We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,” it said in a statement.
The government has already said no US officials were arrested in Tuesday’s raid, which was not carried out at a diplomatic site.
The seven Kenyan nationals who were expelled had violated South African law by working without the correct permits, the foreign ministry repeated.
“The government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly attacked South Africa’s post-apartheid government over what he calls persecution of the Afrikaners, an allegation that had gained ground online with the far-right.
He has been increasingly open on his desire to rid the United States of immigrants other than white Europeans and all but ended the once-generous US refugee resettlement program, which now only accepts Afrikaners among all the world’s people.
The State Department in a separate statement Thursday confirmed it did not invite South Africa to an initial meeting on planning next year’s Group of 20 summit, the first time a member of the bloc is being excluded.
