HC Deb 10 February 1989 vol 146 cc863-4W
Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why Her Majesty's Government reject certain aspects of the Soviet compilation of its force deployment in Europe, released on 29 January; and what data base it used.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The Government have welcomed the Warsaw Pact's publication of its view of the balance of forces in Europe as a sign that the Warsaw Pact is prepared to be more open about such matters than in the past and to acknowledge its superiority in key combat equipments based in Europe. There are, however, differences between the recent Warsaw Pact assessment of the balance and the one published by NATO in November 1988; in particular, NATO does not accept the Warsaw Pact's conclusion that there is a rough parity in forces. Work will be needed by the two Alliances to resolve these differences and to agree common definitions and counting rules.