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Document No. 134: Summary of Gorbachev’s Speech at the Committee of Ministers of Defense Meeting in Moscow, July 7, 1988 ——————————————————————————————————————————— Gorbachev’s previously unpublished speeches at Warsaw Pact meetings, such as this one before a gathering of defense ministers, offer an enlightening glimpse of the behindthe -scenes context in which events during this period were taking place, and provide new evidence on Soviet leadership thinking. In this address, Gorbachev outlines his vision of a Warsaw Pact with significant differences from what the organization was before. One of the key new features he foresees is that each member-state will be “independently active.” In effect, he is allowing other members to follow their own policies. But, contrary to the belief held by many in the West in later years that he was actively encouraging reform, he was not. As this speech and other documents demonstrate, he was largely indifferent about it. His main interest was to disengage the Soviet Union from excessively burdensome obligations in Eastern Europe. ____________________ Cde. Gorbachev […] emphasized that the work of the committee testifies to the increased activity of the Warsaw Treaty. After the Committee of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Committee of the Ministers of Defense is now also proving how the alliance has entered a stage of quite some dynamics. This is good, and it is all right that the alliance has agreed to become more active in all directions. This has proved successful since it guarantees the best option for our decision-making. […] Each party is responsible for its own affairs and fulfills its tasks on its own. There will be no toleration of attempts not to respect each other, or to interfere with the domestic matters of others. We now have a new situation. During the last three years we faced many problems , which we can only solve by way of exchanging opinions. Our parties inform each other about their most important projects. Altogether we can testify that a new level of cooperation has been reached. […] I received documents from the United States proving that the United States is not afraid of weapons. They know that we can mutually destroy each other. However, they are afraid that the Soviet Union could achieve a new quality by means of a restructuring [perestroika] of society. Therefore they will do everything to continue the arms race. In Toronto, Reagan and Kohl have expressed the opinion that the old means of fighting socialism will no longer be appropriate in the future. Cde. Kessler knows this very well since the GDR is following this development very closely. Now they try to discredit us by discussing environmental problems. The adversary wants to divide our society in order to thwart perestroika. 605 […] He [Reagan] behaved preposterously and shamelessly in Moscow. For instance, he met with former supporters of the fascists. Since the mass media report everything back to the United States, he soon had to correct himself. He also had to change his opinion about the “evil empire.” The people of the United States, for the first time, saw Russians live on their TV screens. This had an impact on the whole of public opinion in the United States. Still we have to be concerned about our defense, and should not give in to illusions . We have to strengthen defense even when people all over the world campaign for a political solution to problems. The adversary seeks to gain influence on people through the mass media. The GDR, e.g., continuously feels this pressure. Therefore we have to discuss whether it would make sense to create a political institution at the Unified Command. I would like to ask you to consult with the general secretaries on this issue. We should not defend ourselves only politically and through propaganda, but should also move onto the attack on a political–ideological level. Though we sometimes do attack, we do not carry it out professionally enough. We have made great progress in our policy. With regard to the negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States, I want to announce that Reagan would be ready for a fifth meeting. However, both the candidates for president, [George] Bush and [Michael] Dukakis, have written to me, indicating I should not finalize an agreement with Reagan. We have suggested publishing the numbers of forces. The Americans and the NATO states, however, reject this although they talk about our superiority. We are looking for compromises based on equality in...

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