§ Mr. SillarsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give details of the Warsaw pact strategies referred to in paragraph 206, page 6, of Cm. 675-I; and if he will make a statement on zones of different levels of security and the acceptability to Her Majesty's Government and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonOn 9 March 1989, the Warsaw pact presented its initial proposals at the conventional armed forces in Europe (CFE) talks in Vienna. Those called, among other things, for NATO and the Warsaw pact to reduce their holdings of tanks, artillery, armoured troop carriers, aircraft, helicopters and military manpower to a level 10–15 per cent. below the holdings of the weaker alliance. The proposals also called for the establishment of
zones of reduced levels of armamentsalong borders between NATO and Warsaw pact nations. Since then, they have put forward revised, alternative proposals on zonal arrangements.
NATO has always opposed suggestions for zones of different levels of security, which imply that different nations within the Alliance should be obliged to accept different levels of security. The purpose of the NATO Alliance, and the CFE proposals which it has put forward, is to enhance and maintain security throughout Europe, and the Alliance's proposal for a series of geographical sub-limits on forces is designed to achieve equal security for all from the Atlantic to the Urals.