# Helsinki Final Act (1975)

URL: https://history-russia.com/timeline/1975-helsinki-final-act
Categories: main-event

The Helsinki Final Act, signed by 35 states, recognised post-war borders and committed signatories to human rights. Moscow's Helsinki Group was founded in 1976 to monitor compliance. In July the Apollo-Soyuz mission docked in orbit, and Andrei Sakharov won the Nobel Peace Prize. Helsinki groups were soon persecuted. The Act gave dissidents an international basis for their demands.

## Why it matters
The Act gave dissidents an international basis for their demands.

Ruler at the time: [Leonid Brezhnev](https://history-russia.com/rulers/leonid-brezhnev)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Helsinki Accords](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Accords)
- [Wikipedia — Moscow Helsinki Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Helsinki_Group)
- [Wikipedia — Era of Stagnation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Era_of_Stagnation)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Helsinki Final Act](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Helsinki+Final+Act)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Russian history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Russian_history)