HC Deb 17 April 1967 vol 745 cc61-2
3. Mr. Maclennan

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what principal maters he intends to discuss on his official visit to the Soviet Union in April.

61. Mr. Dickens

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will indicate the major matters he proposes to discuss on his forthcoming visit to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Mr. George Brown

I shall, of course, be discussing the main international problems and important questions in our bilateral relations with the Soviet Union, but we do not have a fixed agenda on these occasions; nor do we announce in advance what subjects we propose to raise.

Mr. Maclennan

Will my right hon. Friend take the opportunity to advance the proposals outlined during the recent visit to this country of Mr. Kosygin to hold a conference on European security, with the particular object of obtaining international recognition for and guarantee of Poland's Western frontier?

Mr. Brown

My hon. Friend has rather ingeniously linked two quite different points in his supplementary question. To deal with the first half, the question of a conference on security was discussed when Mr. Kosygin was here and will, no doubt, be discussed when I am in Moscow.

Sir T. Beamish

Will the Foreign Secretary also discuss the effect of a substantial reduction in the B.O.A.R. on the prospects of a détente with the Soviet Union?

Mr. Brown

I am afraid that I must stick to the original Answer, which is that we do not—and it has been the common practice of Governments—announce in advance what subjects we will be discussing at a conference of this kind.

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