France, Germany, Italy End Defence Talks

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28493, 24 January 1958, Page 11

France, Germany, Italy End Defence Talks

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 7 p,m.) LONDON, January 23. A one-day conference just ended in Bonn between the French, German and Italian Defence Ministers has announced decisions which military and diplomatic sources suggest may have a far-reaching effect on Western European integration and defence. The Ministers of these three N.A.T.O. countries, all of whom, according to reports from their capitals, are impatient at the slow progress in standardising N.A.T.O. weapons, agreed to go ahead on their own and to carry out development and production in the field of armaments and to standardise weapons.

They said this in a communique issued after private talks on joint research into tank design, aircraft production and anti-tank weapons. Working groups will continue discussions in Rome on February 4. The communique implied that establishment might later be possible of a European armaments community, a sort of European Common Market in arms. Much of the initiative for the talks came from the West GermanDefence Minister, Mr Strauss, who has frequently complained there has been more talk but little action in the past about the standardisation of N.A.T.O. arms. So far, the only common arm agreed upon is the Belgian FN rifle. 30-ton Tank It is understood that the projects discussed included the development of a 30-ton tank with a low silhouette suitable for European topographical conditions; joint production of tactical missiles; and the standardisation of communications, small arms and vehicles. Already tnere is close French and German collaboration in the design of a light tank with the prospect of production lines in each country. The Germans have not yet chosen a jet fighter for the Luftwaffe and France is trying to win the contract for her Dassault Mirage. The Germans are also anxious to get a fully co-ordinated air defence system, including a common network of radar warning stations across the whole width of the continent. She* would also like to see cooperation between the three countries much stronger to the extent of a complete division of labour, each country producing for a common pool the weapons it can best supply.

Britain’s position in relation to these proposals seems obscure. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have not commented. Reuter’s Bonn correspondent quotes a German spokesman as saying that Britain was not invited to the conference. The “Manchester Guardian” correspondent talks about the “pointed exclusion” of Britain and “■Hie Times” says that the reason given for Britain not being invited was that it was unnecessary because co-operation in research and development of arms already existed between Germany and Britain. “This is a curious explanation for excluding Britain, especially as she has most to offer among the member nations of the Western European union and has expressed willingness to cooperate,” says “The Times.”