Gorbachev’s P.R. successes give N.A.T.O. headaches

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 8

Gorbachev’s P.R. successes give N.A.T.O. headaches

NZPA-Reuter Munich The N.A.T.O. allies fear that the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of their public and they seem at a loss over what to do about it. N.A.T.O. politicians and defence planners say Mr Gorbachev’s charm offensive towards the West and his rapid-fire arms initiatives seem to be mesmerising Western public opinion and cutting the ground from beneath the Western alliance. They say a big majority of the Western public now feels the Cold War is over and is questioning the extent of the Soviet military threat — the reason for N.A.T.O.’s existence. Unless Western Governments can re-educate their public, N.A.T.O. officials foresee increasing difficulties in negotiating arms control with Moscow from a position of strength and pushing through defence programmes in years ahead. The depth of Western concern emerged startlingly at a week-end defence seminar held in Munich and dominated by the public relations challenge posed by Mr Gorba-

chev. “Our population feels more and more secure. The awareness of threat is waning,” the West German Defence Minister, Rupert Scholz, told the annual Wehrkunde meeting. “Public opinions are less susceptible to the concept of military threat ... the conviction is spreading that the postwar period has come to an end,” the Italian Defence Minister, Valerio Zanone, said. A United States Senator, John Glenn, referring to polls in West Germany showing favourable ratings for Mr Gorbachev and poor ones for United States policies, said he feared a “trade wind” may be starting to blow and the allies would find it difficult to battle against. West Germany, the key ally on the East-West front line, embodies the dilemma facing the alliance. Bonn politicians from across the political spectrum said their policies reflected the opinion of a large sector of the 61 million population swayed by the new style Soviet leadership. West Gerriiany’s favour-

able view of Mr Gorbachev and a desire to grasp the foreign policy opportunities he offers have played a part in leading Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s coalition to stall on a decision to modernise N.A.T.O.’s short-range nuclear weapons. The modernisation issue, on which the United States and Britain want Bonn to make a firm commitment this year, is now the hottest facing the alliance. West Germany has traditionally had the image of N.A.T.O.’s soft underbelly but many

N.A.T.O. officials fear similar problems in other alliance countries. For N.A.T.0., the battle for Western public opinion seems maddeningly unfair. N.A.T.O. officials watched in frustration earlier this month as the Soviet Foreign Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, grabbed world headlines with an announcement that Moscow would withdraw some short-range nuclear weapons from Eastern Europe. “He was talking about 24 missile launchers. Who ever recalls that N.A.T.O. has reduced its stockpile by 2400 warheads since the late 70s?” one N.A.T.O. official said. The Gorbachev challenge comes at an awkward time for the alliance as Washington presses the allies to shoulder more of the defence burden and co-ordinate their defence resources. With Mr Gorbachev making the public relations running, N.A.T.O. officials fear the Alliance could be made to look hawkish, inflexible and out of tune with changing times. Speakers in Munich saw no alternative for N.A.T.O. but to stick to its arms

control agenda, regardless of Mr Gorbachev, while seeking at the same time to explain N.A.T.O. policies more effectively to Western audiences. The Dutch Defence Minister, Frits Bolkestein, said that although the perception of the Soviet threat was waning Western politicians should not be panicked into making concessions. “A negotiator that lets himself be hurried has lost the game,” he said. Mr Bolkestein also cautioned against over-inter-preting public opinion. “Talk of people not standing for this or that could become a self-fulfilling prophecv.” he said. Britain’s Ambassador to N.A.T.0., Sir Michael Alexander, taking issue with West German Social Democrats, said matters at stake were not ones “in which public opinion can simply be followed.” “It is the duty of the strategic community to be, if anything, pessimistic,” he said. “At a time when hope is breaking out all over, this is not a comfortable posture but our political leaders should not expect a comfortable life,” Mr Alexander said.