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Document No. 114: East German Ideas concerning a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in Central Europe, May 21, 1986 ——————————————————————————————————————————— The following two East German documents exemplify the range of proposals that emerged in the mid-1980s to reduce the confrontation along the East–West fault line. They also reflect the prominence of the GDR which, though the most conservative and anti-Western Warsaw Pact member-state, took the lead role in trying to demilitarize the confrontation in Central Europe. One proposal was to create there a zone free of tactical nuclear weapons. This was a variation of the Rapacki Plan46 but under entirely new circumstances. Formally it was a proposal by the East German SED and the West German Social Democratic Party rather than the respective governments, thus emphasizing the ideological affinity of two parties that had previously considered each other whollyincompatible.Theirjointdraftproposalforanuclear-freezoneinCentralEurope is interesting for its invocation of the late Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, who had been assassinated in February 1986 and whom both parties regarded as an inspiration. ____________________ a) Memorandum on Negotiations with the West German Social Democratic Party, May 21, 1986 In preparation for the next meeting with the SPD47 on May 29 and 30, 1986 in Bonn, a revised draft of the “Proposal for the Creation of a Central European NuclearFree Zone” […] was presented. This new draft takes account of the results of the third meeting with the SPD. It contains the following important new elements: – the call for negotiations about the creation of a nuclear-free zone, i.e. tactical nuclear weapons intermediate-range nuclear weapons and strategic weapons. This demand corresponds with the goal set in the Declaration by the MemberStates of the Warsaw Treaty on October 23, 1985 in Sofia. According to the Soviet plan, the creation of a nuclear-free zone would proceed in two stages: – The first stage would be the creation of a zone measuring about 150 km on either side of the dividing line between the two military–political alliances in central Europe. – In the second stage, the zone could be expanded to about 300 km on either side 46 The Rapacki Plan of October 2, 1957, called for a nuclear-free zone in Central Europe, consisting of the two German states, Poland and Czechoslovakia, which was to be guaranteed by the superpowers. 47 Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of [West] Germany). 528 of the dividing line. This should take place about 5 years after the completion of the first stage. Nuclear weapons would be defined to include all nuclear-capable delivery systems , as well as the nuclear ammunition itself. If a delivery system can fire both conventional and nuclear ammunition, then all weapons of this dual-use system would fall under the category of nuclear weapons. This definition complies with the Soviet recommendations at the consultations held on November 25, 1985 in Moscow. However, those recommendations did not enumerate the individual weapons categories, to avoid burdening an essentially political document with additional technical problems. On May 20, 1986, the SPD presented its “Proposal for a Nuclear-Free Zone in Central Europe.” […] While reflecting the essential elements of the consultations to date, this proposal contains a number of totally unacceptable demands: – the creation of a nuclear- free zone measuring only 150 km on either side of the dividing line – the inclusion of all artillery systems (the suggestion of the SED48 is that only dual-use artillery systems be included). – the limitation of the commitment of the participating states to the withdrawal of nuclear weapons. (The SED suggests also prohibiting the possession, stationing , storage and production of nuclear weapons in the zone.) Furthermore, the SPD has left all questions concerning the control of a future zone unaddressed. This leaves it with the option of making unacceptable demands in future negotiations, thereby jeopardizing all results achieved thus far. […] The unacceptable demands of the SPD do not constitute a basis for negotiation, and should be rejected. […] b) Proposal for Creation of a Nuclear-Free Zone, End of May 1986 1. The SED and the SPD consider that the continuation of the arms race on earth and the attempt to extend it to outer space is creating the risk of a nuclear inferno that would threaten the very existence of the peoples of Europe and the whole world. The European continent in particular, due to the high concentration of dangerous weapons of mass destruction, has become a powder keg that could explode anytime and...

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