§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence what notification of military movements, as suggested in Basket I of the Helsinki Agreement, has
Sponsoring Country Name and period of manoeuvre Major manoeuvres Federal Republic of Germany … … Grosser Baer—6th-10th September 1976. Smaller Scale Manoeuvres Turkey* … … Deep Express—12th-28th September 1975. Norway … … Batten Bolt—3rd-7th October 1975. Norway … … Atlas Express—24th February-23rd March 1976. Norway … … Team Work 76–10th–24th September 1976. * Deep Express was notified jointly by the United Kingdom and Turkey.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all occasions since the signing of the Helsinki Agreement in which the United Kingdom, or any other member of NATO, has received prior notification of military manoeuvres by members of the Warsaw Pact, or other signatory country of the Helsinki Agree-
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Sponsoring Country Name and period of manoeuvre USSR … … … … … Caucasus—26th January-6th February 1976. USSR … … … … … Sever—14th-18th June 1976. Poland … … … … … Shield 76–9th–16th September 1976. USSR … … … … … No name notified—31st March-5th April 1977. USSR … … … … … Carpathia—11th-16th July 1977. been given by any signatory country of the Helsinki Agreement to any other signatory country, other than military manoeuvres.
§ Mr. MulleyWe are aware of no military movements which have been notified in accordance with the voluntary provision on the notification of major military movements contained in the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the occasions on which the United Kingdom has given notification of military manoeuvres in advance, or had notification regarding military manoeuvres in which it was taking part given, to other signatories of the Helsinki Agreement, as required under Basket I, Confidence-Building Measures, of the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. MulleyThe United Kingdom has held one manoeuvre since the Helsinki Agreement which was notified under the terms of the provision on the notification of military manoeuvres. The manoeuvre known as "Spearpoint" took place between 2nd and 11th November 1976 and was notified with more than 21 days' notice to all signatory countries.
United Kingdom forces have taken part in five other notified manoeuvres sponsored by NATO countries. These were:
ment, as required under Basket I, Confidence-Building Measures, of the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. MulleyWarsaw Pact countries have notified signatories to the Helsinki Agreement of five major military manoeuvres—defined as involving more than 25,000 toroops. These were:
585WHungary has also notified signatories to the Helsinki Agreement of two smaller-scale military manoeuvres in April and October 1976. However, the period of advance notice was 24 hours or less in both cases.
Sponsoring Country Name and period of manoeuvre Major Manoeuvres Switzerland … … … No name notified—10th—18th November 1975. Smaller-Scale Manoeuvres Yugoslavia … … … No name notified—21st-25th October 1975. Yugoslavia … … … Golija 76–20th–23rd September 1976. Sweden … … … Poseidon—2nd-6th October 1976. Sweden … … … Vonn 77–4th–9th March 1977.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list, with reference to Basket I, Questions Relating to Disarmament, of the Helsinki Agreement, which of the signatory countries have, respectively, increased or decreased their armed forces' expenditure since the signing of the Helsinki Agreement, giving his estimate of the percentage increase or decrease in the case of each signatory country; and what is his estimate of the percentage spent by each such country on defence.
§ Mr. MulleyThe only figures which are available for comparison of the defence expenditure of countries signatory to the Helsinki Agreement before and after that agreement are those for 1975 and 1976 respectively. The defence expenditures of NATO countries as a percentage of Gross National Products were:
1975 1976 Belgium … 3.4 3.4 Canada … 2.3 2.3 Denmark … 3.0 3.0 France … 4.4 4.3 Germany … 4.1 3.8 Greece … 7.1 — Italy … 3.0 2.8 Luxembourg … 1.1 1.0 Netherlands … 3.9 3.7 Norway … 3.7 3.5 Portugal … 5.8 4.6 Turkey (1974: 4.1) — — United Kingdom … 5.5 5.5 United States … 6.5 6.4 The percentages of gross national products expended on defence by the Warsaw Pact countries in 1975 and 1976 are estimated to have been:
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USSR … … 11–13 Bulgaria … … 3 Czechoslovakia … … 5 GDR … … 6 Hungary … … 3 Poland … … 4 Romania … … 2 Neutral and non-aligned countries have notified a total of five manoeuvres. In all cases the advanced period of notification was at least that required by the Helsinki Agreement. The manoeuvres were:
The defence burdens of the neutral countries expressed as percentages of gross national products were:
1975 1976 Switzerland … … 1.8 1.8 Sweden … … 4.0 4. 0 Yugoslavia … … 5.2 — Spain … … 1.9 2. 3 Finland … … 1.4 1.3 Austria … … 1.0 1.1 The lists omit the smaller CSCE participants.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence what confidence-building measures, other than notification of military manoeuvres and movements, have been made by any signatory country of the Helsinki Agreement, as suggested in Basket I, under the heading Other Confidence-Building Measures, of the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. MulleyThe other confidence building measures referred to involve the exchange of military personnel between countries signatory to the Helsinki Agreement. Before and since the Helsinki Agreement there have been many such exchanges, which seek to promote better mutual understanding. In implementing the Final Act provisions, the United Kingdom has endeavoured to continue and develop on a reciprocal basis the exchanges which it had already promoted prior to the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all occasions on which any observers from any Warsaw Pact country have attended any military manoeuvres by, respectively, United Kingdom forces, NATO forces, including occasions when no British 587W forces took part, and forces of neutral countries which signed the Helsinki Agreement, as required under Basket I, Confidence-Building Measures of the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. MulleyObservers from Warsaw Pact countries have been invited on five occasions to attend NATO manoeuvres, including three in which United Kingdom forces took part. None of these invitations was accepted. Warsaw Pact countries have, however, despatched observers in response to invitations to attend a Swiss manoeuvre in November 1976, a Yugoslav manoeuvre in September 1976 and a Swedish manoeuvre in March 1977.
Sponsoring Country Name and period of manoeuvre USSR … … … … … Caucasus—26th January-6th February 1976. USSR … … … … … Sever—14th-l8th June 1976. Poland … … … … … Shield 76–9th–16th September 1976. USSR … … … … … Carpathia—llth-16th July 1977. We are not aware of any occasion on which NATO or neutral observers have not been dispatched in response to invi-
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§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all occasions when, respectively, observers from the United Kingdom, or other NATO, or neutral signatory countries, have attended military manoeuvres in which any armed forces of the Warsaw Pact took part, as required under Basket I, Confidence-Building Measures, of the Helsinki Agreement.
§ Mr. MulleyObservers from the United Kingdom have not been invited to any Warsaw Pact military manoeuvres.
Observers from other NATO and neutral countries have been invited on four occasions to Warsaw Pact manoeuvres:
tations to attend Warsaw Pact manoeuvres.