Soviet delegates to a two-week seminar on multinational societies reversed themselves today and acknowledged that minorities have rights of association within and beyond national frontiers.
The stand at the United Nations-sponsored seminar was believed to be the first time that Soviet representatives have taken this position. The Soviet Union has a large number of minority groups. including 3,000,000 Jews. The Soviets have been criticized severely for denying such association rights to the Jews of their country.
Daniel P. Moyninan, the United States representative, argued last week that minorities deserved the right of contact across borders with people with whom they shared religious, ethnic, linguistic or other ties. At that time, the Soviet representatives strongly opposed that position. The seminar was attended by unofficial representatives of 19 countries.
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