Statement
on the Ministerial Meeting of the
North Atlantic Council
Reykjavik, 11-12 June 1987
1. Our meeting has taken place at a time when developments in East-West
relations suggest that real progress may be possible particularly in the
field of arm control. We welcome these developments and will work to ensure
that they result in improved security and stability. We note some encouraging
signs in Soviet internal and external policies. In assessing Soviet intentions,
we agree that the final test will be Soviet conduct across the spectrum
from human rights to arms control.
We reaffirm the validity of the complementary principles enunciated in
the Harmel report of 1967. The maintenance of adequate military strength
and Alliance cohesion and solidarity remains an essential basis for our
policy of dialogue and cooperation - a policy which aims to achieve a
progressively more stable and constructive East-West relationship.
2. Serious imbalances in the conventional, chemical and nuclear field,
and the persisting build-up of Soviet military power, continue to preoccupy
us. We reaffirm that there is no alternative, as far as we can foresee,
to the Alliance concept for the prevention of war - the strategy of deterrence,
based on an appropriate mix of adequate and effective nuclear and conventional
forces, each element being indispensable. This strategy will continue
to rest on the linkage of free Europe's security to that of North America
since their destinies are inextricably coupled. Thus the US nuclear commitment,
the presence of United States nuclear forces in Europe(1)
and the deployment of Canadian and United States forces there remain essential.
3. Arms control and disarmament are integral parts of our security policy;
we seek effectively verifiable arms control agreements which can lead
to a more stable and secure balance of forces at lower levels.
4. We reiterate the prime importance we attach to rapid progress towards
reductions in the field of strategic nuclear weapons. We thus welcome
the fact that the US and the Soviet Union now share the objective of achieving
50% reductions in their strategic arsenals. We strongly endorse the presentation
of a US proposal in Geneva to that effect and urge the Soviet Union to
respond positively.
We reviewed the current phase of the US-Soviet negotiations in Geneva
on defence and space systems which aim to prevent an arms race in space
and to strengthen strategic stability. We continue to endorse these efforts.
5. We note the recent progress achieved at the Geneva Conference on
Disarmament towards a total ban on chemical weapons. We remain committed
to achieving an early agreement on a comprehensive, worldwide and effectively
verifiable treaty embracing the total destruction of existing stockpiles
within an agreed timeframe and preventing the future production of such
weapons.
6. Recognising the increasing importance of conventional stability,
particularly at a time when significant nuclear reductions appear possible,
we reaffirm the initiatives taken in our Halifax Statement and Brussels
Declaration aimed at achieving a comprehensive, stable and verifiable
balance of conventional forces at lower levels. We recall that negotiations
on conventional stability should be accompanied by negotiations between
the 35 countries participating in the CSCE, building upon and expanding
the confidence and security building measures contained in the Helsinki
Final Act and the Stockholm Agreement. We agreed that the two future security
negotiations should take place within the framework of the CSCE process,
with the conventional stability negotiations retaining autonomy as regards
subject matter, participation and procedures. Building on these agreements
we took the decisions necessary to enable the High Level Task Force on
Conventional Arms Control, which we established at the Halifax Ministerial,
to press ahead with its work on the draft mandates to be tabled in the
CSCE meeting and in the Conventional Stability mandate talks currently
taking place in Vienna.
7. Having reviewed progress in the negotiations between the United States
and the Soviet Union on an INF agreement the Allies concerned call on
the Soviet Union to drop its demand to retain a portion of its SS-20 capability
and reiterate their wish to see all long-range landbased missiles eliminated
in accordance with NATO's long-standing objective.
They support the global and effectively verifiable elimination of all
US and Soviet land-based SRINF missiles with a range between 500 and 1,000
km as an integral part of an INF agreement.
They consider that an INF agreement on this basis would be an important
element in a coherent and comprehensive concept of arms control and disarmament
which, while consistent with NATO's doctrine of flexible response, would
include:
- a 50% reduction in the strategic offensive nuclear weapons of the
US and the Soviet Union to be achieved during current Geneva negotiations;
- the global elimination of chemical weapons;
- the establishment of a stable and secure level of conventional forces,
by the elimination of disparities, in the whole of Europe;
- in conjunction with the establishment of a conventional balance and
the global elimination of chemical weapons, tangible and verifiable
reductions of American and Soviet land-based nuclear missile systems
of shorter range, leading to equal ceilings.
8. We (2) have directed the North Atlantic Council
in Permanent Session, working in conjunction with the appropriate military
authorities, to consider the further development of a comprehensive concept
of arms control and disarmament. The arms control problems faced by the
Alliance raise complex and interrelated issues which must be evaluated
together, bearing in mind overall progress in the arms control negotiations
enumerated above as well as the requirements of Alliance security and
of its strategy of deterrence.
9. In our endeavour to explore all opportunities for an increasingly
broad and constructive dialogue which addresses the concerns of people
in both East and West, and in the firm conviction that a stable order
of peace and security in Europe cannot be built by military means alone,
we attach particular importance to the CSCE process. We are therefore
determined to make full use of the CSCE follow-up meeting in Vienna.
The full implementation of all provisions agreed in the CSCE process by
the 35 participating states, in particular in the field of human rights
and contacts, remains the fundamental objective of the Alliance and is
essential for the fruitful development of East- West relations in all
fields. Recalling our constructive proposals, we shall persist in our
efforts to persuade the Eastern countries to live up to their commitments.
We will continue to work for a substantive and timely result of the conference.
10. Those of us participating in the MBFR talks reiterate our desire
to achieve a meaningful agreement which provides for reductions, limitations
and effective verification, and call upon the Warsaw Pact participants
in these talks to respond positively to the very important proposals made
by the West in December 1985 and to adopt a more constructive posture
in the negotiations.
11. In Berlin's 750th anniversary year we stress our solidarity with
the City which continues to be an important element in East-West relations.
Practical improvements in inner-German relations should in particular
be of benefit to Berliners.
12. It is just 40 years since US Secretary of State Marshall delivered
his far-sighted speech at Harvard. The fundamental values he expressed,
which we all share, and which were subsequently embodied in the Marshall
Plan, remain as vital today as they were then.
13. We reiterate our condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.
Reaffirming our determination to combat it, we believe that close international
cooperation is an essential means of eradicating this scourge.
14. Alliance cohesion is substantially enhanced by the support of freely
elected parliamentary representatives and ultimately our publics. We therefore
underline the great value of free debate on issues facing the Alliance
and welcome the exchanges of views on these issues among the parliamentarians
of our countries, including those in the North Atlantic Assembly.
15. We express our gratitude to the government of Iceland, which makes
such a vital contribution to the security of the Alliance's northern maritime
approaches, for their warm hospitality.
16. The Spring 1988 meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Ministerial
Session will be held in Spain in June.
Footnotes:
- Greece recalls its position on nuclear matters.
- In this connection France recalled that it
had not been a party to the double-track decision of 1979 and that it
was not therefore bound by its consequences or implications.
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