Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

Recognising that the Berlin Conference and all previous attempts at negotiation have proved that the Soviet Union is not yet prepared to agree to the restoration of genuine national independence and freedom to the subject nations of Europe behind the Iron Curtain from the Baltic to the Black Sea ;

Realising that the disappointment of those Europeans who have been subjected first to the totalitarian régime of Hitler and his allies and then to the Communist regime increases after each successive conference ;

Realising also that their anxiety is likely to grow if they come to feel that they are in danger of being abandoned and that they expect from the Western nations moral support and the certainty that they will remain loyal to them in heart and spirit,

Confirms the Resolution unanimously passed by the Assembly on 29th September, 1952, reaffirming its faith in the unity of the whole of Europe ;

Restates its conviction that full independence and democratie freedom for these subject nations are common aims of the peoples on both sides of the Iron Curtain and a primary condition for a genuine and lasting peace in Europe ;

Looks forward to the day when they may become an integral part of the free European community ; and

Inspired by sympathy and a sense of solidarity, pledges itself to use all its endeavours to help to create an international political and diplomatic situation which will enable this aim to be realised.

[1]. This Resolution was adopted by the the Assembly at its 10th Sitting, on 28th May, 1954 ( see Doc. 253, Report of the Special Committee to watch over the interests of European nations not represented in the Council of Europe).