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pension, on the part of Moscow, of
both the Euromissile and s trategic
nuclear arms cont rol talks.
The new Cold War atmosphere
between East and West was very
much in evidence at the 35-nation
Conference on Confidence- and
Security-building Measures and Dis–
armament in Europe (CSDE). The
conference was held in Stockholm.
This writer was in attendance.
The conference was convened to
deal with rather small and technical
items, such as the notification of
troop maneuvers on both sides of
the I ron Curtain.
It
is hoped that
such so-called "confidence-building
measures," if agreed upon by the
delegat ions that are to carry out the
task over the next two to three
years, can lead to implementing
solutions to more significant East–
West issues.
The way the conference started,
it was immediately obvious that lit–
t ic was going to be achieved, at
least in the shor t run.
In his unusually stern remarks
on the opening day, U.S. Secretary
of State George Shultz delivered an
unequivocal condemnation of the
division of Europe since 1945.
The West had not erected this
barrier, maintained Mr. Shultz. He
then emphasized: "Let me be very
clear. The United States does not
recognize the legitimacy of the arti–
ficially imposed division of Europe.
This division is the essence of
Europe's security and human rights
problem and we all know it."
The following day was Moscow's
turn. Soviet Foreign Minister
Andrei Gromyko delivered a blunt
speech highly critica! of U.S. poli–
cíes worldwide.
With regard to Europe, M r .
Gromyko complained that "militar–
ism, enmity and war hysteria are
being exported to Western Europe
along with the missiles"- a refer–
ence to the new Pershing
li
and
cruise missiles being delivered by
the United States to its West Euro–
pean allies.
The two speeches did little to lay
the groundwork for confidence–
building measures.
Eastern Europe Worrled
With the Cold War seemingly on
again, the nations of both Western
and Eastern Europe
find them-
May 1984
selves being squeezed uncomfort–
ably between the two superpow–
ers-and, as a consequence, closer
to each other.
In Stockholm the East bloc for–
eign ministers dutifully echoed Mr.
Gromyko's words. But it is known
that nearly all the Warsaw Pact
countries, too, are concerned over
rising tensions on the Continent.
Especially worrisome to them are
announced Soviet plans to place
new intermediate-range missi les in
Eastern Europe to counter the
NATO deployment.
the western parts move together
and the closer the Germans come
together in both parts of the
Fatherland."
The maverick nation of Roma–
nía, in particular, has been an out–
spoke n critic of the growing
nuclearization of the Continent–
from both sides. Moscow was shak–
en when Romania's President
Nicolae Ceausescu hinted, early
this year , at the theoretical possibi l–
ity that Romanía might not renew
its membership in the Warsaw Pact
when the initial treaty expires next
year.
Atlantic Rift Widens
In Western Europe, there
is a growing perception
that the United States is
equally to blame for the
worsening conditions, es–
pecially in the aftermath
of the deployment of the
first of the new missiles.
Perhaps this perception
was best summarized by
the lead editorial in the
January 3
Financia/
Times
of London. It said:
" The American shield
now looks, to a significant
and vocal minority, more
like an American threat.
... In mi litary and eco–
nomic terms ... the At–
lantic appears to be get–
ting wider."
"The United States does not recognize
the legitimacy of tbe artificially
imposed division of Europe. This
division is the essence of Europe's
security and human rights problem."
Just how wide the
Atlantic is becoming was
best displayéd by the
activities at another con–
ference, this one a three–
day closed-door meeting
in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz
This conference immedi–
ately preceded the more
publicized Stockholm affair. Dele–
gates to the Brussels meeting con–
sisted of former government offi–
cials who still are highly influential
in their respective countries.
Late last year, former Chancel–
lor Helmut Schmidt reported to
the West German Bundestag: "I
also know that in East Germany
and in Czechoslovakia people
are ... frightened. They don't want
to soon see Soviet nuclear SS-21
rockets and SS-22 rockets stationed
there. .. . That applies to Hungary
where 1 recently visited [and also]
to Bulgaria....
"The more the two world powers
conduct themselves antagonistical–
ly, the closer the people of the east–
ern parts of middle Europe and of
The headline in the January 16
Times
of London summarized the
net result of this high-level get–
together: "Bitter Speeches Betray a
Mutual Loss of Trust by Europe
and America."
The Brussels conference was
entitled "The Future of NATO
and Global Security." But, re–
vealed France's former Foreign
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