§ 7. Mr. Molloyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to take the initiative in promoting an international conference of interested nations with a view to the formation of a European Peace and Security Council.
§ Mr. M. StewartWe want to see a just settlement of the problems between East and West in Europe; and our policies are directed to this end. But I do not think an initiative of the kind proposed would assist at this stage.
§ Mr. MolloyHow does my right hon. Friend know if it has not been tried? The fact is—and I think that he will agree—that many members of both the N.A.T.O. and Warsaw Pacts have expressed their interest in the formation of such a Council. I suggest that the stabilisation of peace in Europe which could follow from this would make a far greater contribution to mankind than anything the Common Market could produce.
§ Mr. StewartI should point out the initiatives that we have taken. The N.A.T.O. Powers at Reykjavik have stated their readiness to enter into discussions on mutual force reductions. Following the Budapest declaration by the countries of the Warsaw Pact, N.A.T.O. is now engaged in examining what issues might be fruitfully discussed with the East, and Britain is taking an active part in these studies which will be considered by N.A.T.O. Ministers collectively in December. I ask my hon. Friend to realise that this is more realistic at this time than what he proposes.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerWould it not be a good thing if the right hon. Gentleman pressed the issue through the Inter-Parliamentary Union, where it has been discussed now for ten years, as a start?
§ Mr. StewartI should be glad to look into that suggestion. I believe that we want an increasing normalisation of relations between all the countries of East 18 and West Europe, which I hope would be a prelude to some more general settlement.