Madrid Conference recesses until February (12/26/82)

Madrid Conference recesses until February

MADRID - The two-year-old Madrid Conference on European security and human rights adjourned on December 17 amid warnings that it was headed for crisis unless an East-West deadlock was broken during the recess, reported Reuters.

"Should we fail to agree on a balanced and substantive document in February or March, a serious crisis must be envisaged," said Franz Ceska, the chief Austrian delegate.

He was speaking at the conclusion of the final full session of the current round of the conference, which is scheduled to resume on February 8.

On December 15, Switzerland called on delegates to conclude their meting by spring.

Edouard Brunner, the Swiss delegate, told reporters he demanded a March 25 deadline at a closed-door session as delegates prepared for another seven-week break in the meeting, which has lasted 25 months and made little tangible progress.

The 35-state conference has been reviewing the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The meeting has been deadlocked because of major differences between the West and Soviet-bloc countries on human rights and the format of a post-Madrid European disarmament conference.

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