Header
Updated: 25-Oct-2000 Ministerial Communiqus

Meeting
of the North
Atlantic
Council

Bonn
10 June 1982

Document on Arms Control and Disarmament


As indicated in our Declaration of today, we, the representatives of the 16 members of the North Atlantic Alliance, hereby set out our detailed positions on Arms Control and Disarmament.

Militarily significant, equitable and verifiable agreements on arms control and disarmament contribute to the strengthening of peace and are an integral part of our security policies. Western proposals offer the possibility of substantial reductions in United States and Soviet strategic arms and intermediate-range weapons and in conventional forces in Europe, as well as of confidence-building measures covering the whole of Europe:

  • In the forthcoming Strategic Arms Reductions Talks (START), we call on the Soviet Union to agree on significant reductions in United States and Soviet strategic nuclear forces, focused on the most destabilizing inter-continental systems.

  • In the negotiations on Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) which are conducted within the START framework and are based on the December 1979 decision on INF modernization and arms control (1), the United States proposal for the complete elimination of all longer-range land-based INF missiles of the United States and the Soviet Union holds promise for an equitable outcome and enhanced security for all.

  • Those of us participating in the Vienna negotiations on Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) will soon present a draft treaty embodying a new, comprehensive proposal designed to give renewed momentum to these negotiations and achieve the long-standing objective of enhancing stability and security in Europe. They stress that the Western treaty proposal, if accepted, will commit all participants whose forces are involved - European and North American - to participate in accordance with the principle of collectivity in substantial manpower reductions leading to equal collective ceilings for the forces of Eastern and Western participants in Central Europe, based on agreed data, with associated measures designed to strengthen confidence and enhance verification.

  • In CSCE, the proposal for a Conference on Confidence- and Security-building Measures and Disarmament in Europe as part of a balanced outcome of the Madrid CSCE Follow-up Meeting would open the way to increased transparency and enhanced stability in the whole of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to promote stable peace on a global scale:

  • In the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, the Allies will actively pursue efforts to obtain equitable and verifiable agreements including a total ban on chemical weapons.

In the Second Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly now in progress, we trust that new impetus will be given to negotiations current and in prospect, especially by promoting military openness and verification, that the need for strict observance of the principle of renunciation of force enshrined in the United Nations Charter will be reaffirmed, and that compliance with existing agreements will be strengthened.

We appeal to all states to co-operate with us in these efforts to strengthen peace and security. In particular we call on the Soviet Union to translate its professed commitment to disarmament into active steps aimed at achieving concrete, balanced and verifiable results at the negotiating table.

Footnote:

  1. In this connection Greece reserves its position.


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