The USSR and Sweden During the Preparation of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1969—1975)

Abstract

In March 1969 in the Budapest Appeal of the Warsaw Pact member states’ Political Consultative Committee a proposal was made to convene a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was proposed. The Soviet Foreign Ministry undertook active efforts to implement this idea, including its promotion at the Nordic “direction”. Neutral Sweden was regarded by the Soviet political leadership as a country that could assist the USSR in the preparation and organization of the CSCE. It was considered that “the two sides’ positions in many cases are similar or close to each other”. On the basis of documents from the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation (AVPRF) the author of this article analyses Soviet-Swedish relations in the late 1960s — first half of 1970s with the preparation for and carrying out of the CSCE as a background.