§ 27. Mr. Dodds-Parkerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the relations in Central Europe between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Warsaw Pact, following the Federal German Government's talks with Poland.
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeWe welcome the initialling of the Polish-German Treaty. N.A.T.O. Ministers' position on questions affecting relations between East 34 and West in Europe is set out in the communiqué issued after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council which I attended in Brussels last week. I am circulating the text in the OFFICIAL REPORT in reply to Question No. 26.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerWill my right hon. Friend let the Federal German Government know that we welcome this improvement in relations between the Federal Government and our Polish friends, on whose behalf we entered the war in 1939?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeYes, and we are glad to see the matter of the OderNeisse line settled between the Poles and the Germans.
§ Mr. DelargyIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that most thoughtful people in this country welcome the peaceful settlement of the problem of the frontier between Germany and Poland, and that since most thoughtful people in this country are friendly to Poland, we realise that this affects us and also European peace?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeYes, Sir.
§ Mr. MaclennanWill the right hon. Gentleman take this opportunity to make it clear that he does not support the views of his colleagues, expressed in the Western European Union Assembly, which sought to water down the resolution welcoming the ostpolitik of Herr Brandt?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeNo, Sir. I do not think that that is necessary. Again, I can only repeat—and I think that the House feels this, too—that so far the ostpolitik has been successful as far as it has been conducted by the West German Government. We now want a response from the other side.
§ 40. Mr. Bryant Godman Irvineasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the Union of Soviet Social Republics has made to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation proposals for mutual and balanced force reductions in Central Europe.
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeThe Warsaw Pact countries have not responded directly to N.A.T.O.'s proposals; but at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in 35 Brussels last week N.A.T.O. Ministers renewed their invitation to interested States to hold exploratory talks on the subject.
§ Mr. Godman IrvineCan my right hon. Friend say whether there has been any indication that the U.S.S.R. are willing to get down to discussing the substantive problems, which is necessary before this conference can be a success?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeThat remains to be seen: the invitation is open.
§ Mr. HealeyBut is it not the case that the Warsaw Powers indicated in June for the very first time that they were prepared to discuss mutual force reductions either at or after a possible European security conference, and should not the House at least welcome this progress, limited though it is, in the position of the Soviet Union?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeYes, Sir. I am not sure how far they have gone back on what they originally said. They now seem to be limiting any discussion to the reduction of foreign forces on the territory of European States, and are not willing now that this should be discussed in a security conference. But this has further to be explored. I think that the Russians feel that this is not the right forum.