4　バチカンと国際政治　CSCEにおけるバチカンの役割と宗教

抄録

On August 1, 1975, the head of European states, the USSR, the USA, and Canada, with the notable exception of Albania, met and signed the Helsinki Final Act in Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland. At that time, no one could gauge the full significance of the Helsinki Final Act or the Eastern Camp’s affinity for this act. Notably, Vatican was one of the main actors to insist on the importance of “freedom of religion” during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Small states such as the Vatican are sometimes regarded as “lesser power states.” Although the Vatican is the smallest state in the world, it is a significant power in world politics. Even though a number of CSCE-like summits were held during the 1980s, the principle of freedom of religion did not become hegemonic. Other than the Vatican and the USA, no other state sought to advance this political principle.

However, the situation changed drastically after Gorbachev’s ascension to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. In the Vienna Follow-up Meeting (1986-1989), the Soviet Union recognized that it was important to advance the principle of freedom of religion to alleviate its political situation. The principle was also adopted by other Catholic states, such as Hungary and Poland. Notably, after the Eastern European Revolution in 1989, no state, including the Eastern Camp states, denied the importance of freedom of religion. This turn of events is a reminder of the Vatican’s “soft power.”