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Document No. 68: Polish Proposals for the Conference on Security and Disarmament, October 24, 1969 ——————————————————————————————————————————— The Warsaw Pact member-states held numerous meetings to discuss a common strategy for the CSCE conference, including how to sell it to the West. But before anything could be agreed, the Poles prepared their own unilateral proposal without prior clearance from Moscow. (Ever since the Rapacki Plan,6 security of its western border had been a particular concern for Poland.) This proposal, which was not just an idea for a conference but a draft of a treaty, is reproduced here. Among its features is a provision for compulsory consultation among signatories (including smaller countries), which could be read as putting constraints on the Soviet Union. The Poles’ ultimate goal, as implied in this document and elsewhere, was to soften the division of Europe and enhance Poland’s international status and influence. The second document, on disarmament, proposed freezing nuclear weapons at current levels on the territories of non-nuclear states. The authors obviously had in mind not just NATO stockpiles but Soviet weapons in Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, but they also called for the gradual reduction and withdrawal of these weapons, proposing negotiations under international supervision, thus removing the issue from the superpower context. Needless to say, the Soviets summarily rejected these ideas and prevented the Poles from actually submitting their proposal. ____________________ Draft Principles of a Treaty on Security and Cooperation in Europe […] II. The discretionary part of the Treaty would contain a decision based on the following rules: 1. Acceptance of obligations: – non-use of force or threat of its use against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or independence of any country, or in any other way incompatible with the goals and rules of the United Nations Charter; – acceptance and respect of existing state borders in Europe; – non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries; – resolution of any disagreements which may arise between signatories of the treaty only through peaceful methods in accordance with the United Nations Charter in such a way as not to threaten peace and security in Europe. 6 On October 2, 1957, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki proposed a nuclear-free zone in Central Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, West Germany and East Germany). The plan never reached fruition but served as a model for further discussion. 350 2. The obligation of signatories to hold consultations when, according to any one of them a situation which can threaten peace in Europe or lead to a military attackagainst one or several European member-states of the Treaty will arise. The point of these consultations would be to take necessary steps consistent with the United Nations Charter (steps which would be assumed adequate and effective) to remove the threat and maintain peace and security in Europe. 3. The obligation to refrain from providing the aggressor any kind of political, military, economic, or moral help even if signatories of the Treaty are tied to it by military or any other agreement. 4. Confirmation of the right of an attacked member-state of the Treaty to individual or collective self-defense (in accordance with Art. 51 of the United Nations Charter) including the use of military force of one or several member-states of the Treaty with which it is tied in bilateral or multilateral allied agreements. All sides would be obligated to inform the U.N. Security Council about the individual or collective self-defense steps taken and would act in accordance with specific decisions of the United Nations Charter. 5. Agreement that after the implementation of the Treaty and assessment of its effectiveness, member-states of the Treaty would hold a conference to discuss the possibility of dissolving the political–military groups existing in Europe—NATO and the Warsaw Pact—and to add to the Treaty legal–international obligations to provide mutual assistance based on the rule that a military attack in Europe against one or more member-states of the Treaty would imply an attack on all member-states of the Treaty. 6. […] 7. Acceptance of obligations: a) the conduct of negotiations in the area of disarmament, and the execution in good will of all obligations in order to lead to universal and complete disarmament under strict international control; b) the effort to use adequate and effective means of regional disarmament in Europe, which would support prevention of an arms race, especially nuclear arms but also other weapons of mass destruction, and which would facilitate universal...

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