Confronting the greek military junta: scandinavian joint action under the european commission on human rights, 1967-70

The price for the compromise was accepting Basket III with a promise that the free movement of people, information and ideas would be made possible within the Soviet Bloc as well. When assessing the impact of the Helsinki process on the Soviet Bloc, Basket II, namely, economic cooperation between East and West, not the Western human rights campaign, was responsible for the destabilization of the Communist systems. The conclusion of the Helsinki Final Act was seen by the Soviet Bloc leaders as a long awaited legal guarantee for the legalization of the European status quo. On the other hand, the role of Basket II is generally underestimated although the ever broadening economic cooperation between the Eastern and Western parts of Europe eventually led to serious economic and financial dependency on and indebtedness to the West in most Soviet Bloc states.