§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is his Department's latest assessment of the balance of total ground forces in the central area of Europe; and how many of the Warsaw pact ground forces are those of the Soviet Union;
(2) how many NATO ground forces are currently stationed in the central area of Europe apart from those belonging to the United States of America.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonTaking the "central area" as that covered by the limits on United States and Soviet stationed manpower, as shown in figure 1 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1990", we estimate the current balance of ground forces in the central area to be approximately 1.3:1 in favour of the Warsaw pact. Soviet ground forces in this area are currently some 500,000 strong out of a Warsaw pact total of just over 1 million. NATO forces in the same area, apart from the United States, total some 600,000.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to figure 1, page 8, of "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1990", what is his Department's assessment of the balance of manpower between NATO and the Warsaw pact in the central area in the aftermath of the limits imposed by the conventional forces in Europe treaty.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonIt has been agreed that United States and Soviet stationed forces in the central area should not in future exceed 195,000 each. It is not yet possible to estimate what the implications for force levels may be of equipment reductions which may be required by a CFE treaty or other national plans.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to figure 1, page 8, of "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1990", how many of the 4 million total armed forces of the Warsaw pact belong to countries other than the Soviet Union.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonJust a quarter (1,080,000) of the 4 million Warsaw pact armed forces in the Atlantic to the Urals zone belong to non-Soviet Warsaw pact countries.