The fortieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, which sought to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West, is being celebrated through an exhibition which was launched in Parliament House this afternoon.
The Helsinki Final Act was the culmination of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which was established in 1973, and Malta made its presence felt as Prime Minister Dom Mintoff single-handedly launched a campaign to include the Mediterranean region in the measures being taken to promote peace and security in Europe.
Mr Mintoff's delaying tactics and brinkmanship - he had threatened to use a veto - led to the inclusion of the so-called "Mediterranean chapter" in the Helsinki Final Act, in which signatories stated their conviction that "security in Europe... is closely linked with security in the Mediterranean."
While the tenth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act had been officially celebrated during the term of Mr Mintoff's successor, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, no activities were held to mark the 20th and 30th anniversary.
No activities had been planned for the 40th anniversary either, until Dr Mifsud Bonnici himself set up the Helsinki 40 working group with a number of other activists to celebrate the historic event.
The exhibition primarily consists of reproductions of pages of the three daily newspapers which were active in Malta at the time of the CSCE - L-Orizzont, In-Nazzjon Tagħna, and the Times of Malta.
Their reports clearly show that public opinion on Mr Mintoff's actions was mixed. L-Orizzont, owned by the General Workers' Union which ended up fusing with the Malta Labour Party in 1978, was full of praise. But In-Nazzjon Tagħna was far more cynical in its approach, as was the Times of Malta.
But at the launch of the exhibition, both Speaker Anġlu Farrugia and President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca were full of praise for the former prime minister, and stressed that the conference paved the way for the end of the Cold War over a decade later.
In their address, both argued that there should be a revival of the principles guiding the Helsinki Final Act, particularly given present developments in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Their sentiments were echoed by Dr Mifsud Bonnici who lamented that the "spirit of Helsinki has unfortunately evaporated."
The former prime minister noted that on the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, an exhibition in Washington D.C. had prominently featured Mr Mintoff as one of five protagonists of the conference, whilst nothing took place in Malta. He noted that the same situation would have occurred this time round, had it not been for the initiative of the working group he helped set up.