Disarmament talks slow

Press, 2 July 1985, Page 10

Disarmament talks slow

By RICHARD MURPHY of Reuter (through NZPA) Stockholm The Stockholm conference on disarmament in Europe has passed its half-way stage with Western delegates conceding that progress has been painfully slow but optimistic that they are still on course for an accord that will make war in Europe less likely. Progress has been impeded by basic disagreements between the Soviet Union and the United States as to what they should be talking about and by the background of strained East-West relations against which the talks have taken place. Delegates from the United States, Canada and all European countries except Albania have been meeting in Stockholm since January, 1984, to discuss security and confidencebuilding measures. Their work has attracted little of the attention given to other arms control talks, but delegates say agreement in Stockholm would make Europe a safer place by reducing the risk of war

breaking out by accident or miscalculation.

The Norwegian Ambassador, ' Mr Leif Mevik, described the 35-nation talks in a speech during the present sixth session as a, “highly political, technically complex conference where we are breaking new ground.” The conference, part of the European co-operation process launched by the 1975 Helsinki Accords, ends its sixth session on Friday. It is due to report to a full meeting of the conference on security and. cooperation in Europe starting in Vienna in November, 1986.

The 16 members of N.A.T:O. have proposed a package of measures on regular exchanges of military information, improved crisis communications and earlier notification of military activities above a certain size. N.A.T.O. also wants to make the invitation of foreign observers to military activities compulsory, rather than voluntary as at present, and to provide for on-site inspection of such activitiesa to determine whetherlfyiey are threaten-

ing. “We are looking for something that will really improve our security, not for symbolic gestures,” said the United States Ambassador, Mr James Goodby. Moscow and its allies have tabled broader political proposals centring on a non-use of force treaty and suggesting modest improvements on existing confid-ence-building measures agreed 10 years ago at Helsinki.

■ They have also called for agreement on four points — non-first-use of nuclear weapons, a ban on chemical weapons in Europe, the creation .of nuclear-free zones and a freeze on military budgets — on which N.A.T.O. refuses to negotiate.

Western and neutral delegates say the Soviet Bloc has gradually lessened its emphasis on these four proposals and begun to talk about the military practicalities which the West sees as the main issues.

During the sixth session, Eastern countries suggested new thresholds for advance notification of military exercises on land, sea and* ; n

the air and said major movements and transfers of troops or planes should also be notified.

N.A.T.O. and neutral countries say the Soviet proposals either do not go far enough or are aimed at extending the zone of application of the talks beyond the purely European scope of the mandate. “On the central issue of openness, there is no evidence of Soviet willingness to go beyond relatively minor improvements in existing rules,” said a neutral delegate. N.A.T.O. accuses Moscow of failing to respond to an offer made by President Reagan last year promising Western acceptance of a reaffirmation of the non-use of force principle provided this was accompanied by concrete, confidence-build-ing measures.

Nevertheless, many Western and neutral delegates say a definite consensus is emerging that a final agreement should combine significant military measures with a restatement of the non-aggression principle already enshrined in international law.