Policy of Member States of the Council of Europe on East-West relations

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 783 | 16 January 1958

Committee

Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy

Signatories:

Mr Kurt Georg KIESINGER, Germany

Origin

See 35th Sitting, 17th January 1958 (draft Resolution and draft Orders adopted), Resolution 145 and Orders 117, 118 and 119. 1957 - 9th Session - Third part

Thesaurus

A

The Assembly,

Having held a general debate on recent developments in the international situation, with particular reference to :

the resolution on strengthening European co-operation adopted by the Committee of Ministers of t h e Council of Europe on 13th December 1957;

the declaration and communiqué issued at the NATO meeting of Heads of Governments on 19th December 1957;

The overtures for East-West negotiations contained in t he various letters, messages and notes of the Soviet Prime Minister;

the reply of President Eisenhower to M. Bulganin's letter of 10th December 1957;

Welcoming the entry into force on 1st January 1958 of the treaties setting up t he Common Market and Euratom, which demonstrate the will of the peoples of the six-Power Communities to form a strong and closelyintegrated economic unit and thereby give a practical lead to the movement for European unity;

Welcoming also the resolutions of the Council of 0 . E. E. C. setting up the European Nuclear Energy Agency and declaring their determination to secure the establishment of a free trade area,

Considers that the policy of Member States of the Council of Europe on East/West relations should include the following :

1 The Member States of the Council of Europe should remain loyal to the undertakings they have given to consult among Western partners before taking any initiative on important international political problems.

2 The Western Powers must be ready to enter into negotiations at highest level with the Soviet Union, at the same time rejecting the terms " capitalist and socialist States " as used by the Soviet Union in this context. It is indispensable t h a t any East/West " summit " conference, if it is to be productive, should be well prepared in advance, by whatever methods are best calculated to achieve results. There must be a joint effort on the part of the Western Powers to co-ordinate their policy.

3 The Western Powers should endeavour to get negotiations on controlled disarmament going again, and to this end the Soviet leaders' intentions should be probed. The Assembly believes that the political and military aspects of regional or limited disarmament should be studied by the Western Powers.

4 Free Europe cannot give final sanction to the status quo in Europe, which would mean, among other things, the continued partition of Germany. There can be no lasting settlement with the Soviet Union so long as this problem remains unsolved.

5 The West must be faithful to the principle that all peoples, including the nations of Eastern Europe, have the right to choose their own political regime.

6 It is vitally important to bring the Western Powers and the under-equipped countries of the world closer together on the basis of mutual help, t r u s t and respect. The Western Powers must be prepared to make a much greater effort to raise the standard of living of these countries.

B Draft Order I [(1) Adopted by the Committee by 12 votes to 5 and 1 abstention.]

The Assembly

Requests the Assembly of Western European Union to express an opinion on the military implications for the security of the West of regional or limited disarmament and of the policy of disengagement in Central Europe.

C Draft Order II [(2) Adopted by the Committee by 16 votes to 0 and 2 abstentions.]

The Assembly,

Having adopted Resolution , Invites the President to send it to the Foreign Ministers of the fifteen Member States of the Council of Europe.

D Draft Order III [(3) Adopted unanimously by the Committee.]

The Assembly

Requests the Bureau to study the possibility of organising another meeting between delegations of t he Assembly of t h e Council of Europe, of the United States' Congress and of the Canadian Parliament. The object of this meeting would be to discuss the political problems arising out of the development of close relations between Europe and the United States.