1988 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Nicosia, capital of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

in September 1988. 92 foreign ministers participating in the conference discussed

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rapprochement,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

's occupation of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's occupation of Palestine, threats against

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and the solution of the conflict in South-West Africa. During the conference,

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

was unanimously selected as a host of the

9th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement 9th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on 4–7 September 1989 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia was the conference of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement. Belgrade was the first city to host the Summit for the second ...

, making the country the first one to host the event for the second time after the 1961 Summit. While the Federal Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia led by

Budimir Lončar Budimir Lončar (born 1 April 1924) is a Croatian retired diplomat who served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of SFR Yugoslavia from 1987 until 1991. He served as Ambassador of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Indonesia, Germany a ...

was excited, the

Presidency of Yugoslavia The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( sr, Председништво СФРЈ, Predsedništvo SFRJ, Bosnian and hr, Predsjedništvo SFRJ, sl, Predsedstvo SFRJ, mk, Председателство на СФРЈ, Preds ...

, Yugoslav collective head of state, was sceptical about the prospects of hosting the event but ultimately supported by Josip Vrhovec. Some other countries considered hosting the 9th summit, including

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and

. Nicaraguan candidacy was opposed by Yugoslavia due to perceived radicalism and de facto alignment of the country, while Cypriot informal candidacy while attractive, was perceived as impractical as the country had only 4 embassies in NAM member states. The Foreign Ministers Conference in Nicosia welcomed the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

efforts at resolution of the Cyprus dispute and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces and settlers and welcomed the proposal for

demilitarization Demilitarisation or demilitarization may mean the reduction of state armed forces; it is the opposite of militarisation in many respects. For instance, the demilitarisation of Northern Ireland entailed the reduction of British security and military ...

of the island. The final document of the conference was described as more balanced and thoughtful compared to the final declaration of the 1986 Summit in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. Minister of Foreign Affairs of West Germany

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, politician with predominantly positive attitude towards NAM, welcomed Indian and Yugoslav proposals for modernisation of the movement stating that it should "not be permitted to turn into an association of

anticolonial Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

struggle veterans".

References

See also