Finally, all arrangements in place, Ronald and Nancy Reagan set out for their first trip to Moscow on May 25, 1988, with a stop in Helsinki to adjust to the time change. On arms control, I knew the chances of progress toward a strategic arms reductions treaty were minimal, but the Vienna negotiations to create a mandate for a new round of talks on conventional forces in Europe were moving toward a conclusion and needed a boost. On regional issues I took with me Assistant Secretary of State Chester Crocker , in an effort to highlight the negotiations for Namibian independence and to enlist Soviet support for our efforts. Cuba and Angola were key countries involved, and both were clients supported by the Soviets.
Ronald Reagan expressed the overriding and powerful theme for the Moscow summit. On May 27, in his address in Helsinki's Finlandia Hall on the eve of his departure for Moscow, he said in stirring words, “There is no true international security without respect for human rights. … The greatest creative and moral force in this new world, the greatest hope for survival and success, for peace and happiness, is human freedom.”
He went on to ask bluntly “why Soviet citizens who wish to exercise[fo 1] their right to emigrate should be subject to artificial quotas and arbitrary rulings. And what are we to think of the continued suppression of those who wish to practice their religious beliefs?” I supported these sentiments by attending a seder in Helsinki, well publicized in order to let the Soviets know the strength of our views on emigration and religious freedom. The president let the Finns know that he understood the heroism of their own continuing struggle for independence from their aggressive neighbor and for maintenance of a free and open political and economic system. From that moment, a new chapter was opened in U.S.-Finnish relations.
