Jovan Cavoski

"On the Road to Belgrade: Yugoslavia’s Contribution to the Defining
of the Concept of European Security and Cooperation 1975-1977"

The main goal of this paper is to present Yugoslavia’s contribution to the overhaul process of defining of the concept of European security and cooperation after the 1975 Helsinki conference. Research is mostly based on the recently declassified documents coming from the major Yugoslav/Serbian archives – Archives of Josip Broz Tito, Archives of the Foreign Ministry of Serbia, and Archives of Serbia and Montenegro, which holds the former Archive of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.
This paper concentrates on the analysis of the preparations for the First CSCE follow-up meeting in Belgrade 1977/78 and how Yugoslav foreign policy handled this assignment given to her under the deteriorating conditions of the Superpower detente. Balancing between the rival Blocs, closely coordinating with neutral and nonaligned countries, emphasizing the Mediterranean dimension of the European security calculus, President Tito and Yugoslav foreign policy tried their best to avoid any kind of obstacle that could undermine the success of the upcoming meeting in Belgrade. Reconciling some of the differences between the East and the West, at least for the time being, and holding intensive discussions and finding compromises with all the major players in this process, Yugoslavia made a tangible contribution to the "spirit of Helsinki" and the continuation of the idea of the CSCE.