Wanda Jarząbek (Institute for Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences)
The ongoing weakening of the USSR in the second half of 80-ties meant also an emerging chance for the Eastern Bloc countries and those that were part of the USSR for regaining political sovereignty or at least for building democratic societies. The crash of Soviet Empire was an opportunity to realize their dreams and plans, which were embodied into the programs of anti-system organizations and were often shared by the broader public, although the latter sometimes did not show much dissident activity. The Helsinki Process played a not insignificant role in promoting human rights. The 1975 CSCE Final Act, in the so-called Third Basket, included stipulations on the observance of human rights, including freedom of speech, religion, freedom of movement, and the right of association. Still these stipulations could have remained just provisions implemented by communist countries to a small degree. Why this was not the case? The human rights way from records to a political tool would be one of the topics covered in my presentation. I will illustrate the actions of oppositionists and the reactions of the political world to their demands, using examples from various Eastern Bloc countries. The cross-border contacts between opponents of the communist system from various Central and Eastern European countries and their efforts to inform the free world about the situation behind the Iron Curtain will be also a part of reflection. Contacts established by dissidents were also of big importance after 1989 and the collapse of Soviet Union and impacted bilateral relations and regional politics in CEE. Some of these activities have their own literature on the subject, some were ad hoc and may never be described – such as the support for different groups taking place through “occasional” channels. (i.e., the author of the proposal transported materials in Lithuanian to Vilnius in May 1989) The main aim of the speech would be to reflect on the significance of the various levels of struggle for the implementation of human rights in the Eastern Bloc, as well as on the political objectives of Western support for opposition movements in Eastern Bloc countries. The successive phases of Western policy toward the region will be shown. Grassroots activities and big politics contributed to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the prison of nations that was the USSR. The interactions between activists and big politics were not always obvious. They can neither be underestimated nor overestimated when analysing the collapse of state communism. They require a sound assessment grounded in the realities of the time in which they took place. The speech will serve this purpose.