§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of the large Soviet exercise in the North and Norwegian Seas early in April, they will now consult their NATO allies in order to formulate a proposal which will ensure that Soviet exercises within 200 miles of participants' coastlines are notifiable.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)As my noble friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces indicated on 1st February in response to a similar question by the noble Lord, the mandate for the Stockholm Conference, which was adopted unanimously in Madrid, restricts the notification of naval activities to those which form part of a notifiable land activity. This provision, inserted at Western insistence, reflects the considered view of NATO allies on the merits of seeking reciprocal notification of naval exercises at the Stockholm Conference.