The 35-nation European environmental meeting failed to adopt a final document Friday because hard-line Romania refused to accept language outlining the rights of citizens and independent groups to express their views freely on ecological matters.
"Unfortunately all efforts to reach a consensus have not borne fruit," chairman Hans Voss of East Germany told the closing session of the conference."Consequently, the report of the meeting does not meet with the approval of all 35 delegate states."
Non-aligned Austria with three other neutral nations originated the document containing the human rights language and was the first to express disappointment at the failure of the three-week Ecoforum, a follow-up meeting to the 1975 Helsinki Agreement on human rights.