On 18 June 1954, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk comments on the efforts made by the Soviet Union to link the economies of its satellite states with its own economic development.

On 22 March 1955, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool comments on Moscow’s desire to establish a military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact.

On 10 May 1955, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro emphasises that the Warsaw Conference (11–14 May 1955), which culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (Warsaw Pact), simply confirms the state of affairs existing since the Korean War.

On 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union sign a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, known as the Warsaw Pact.

From 11 to 14 May 1955, the Conference of European Countries for the Preservation of Peace and Security in Europe is held in Warsaw. The communiqués published during the Conference refer to the agenda of the first three days.

Table showing the composition of the delegations from the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania to the Warsaw Conference for the preservation of peace and security in Europe, held in Warsaw from 11 to 14 May 1955.

On 14 May 1955, the Soviet delegation, led by Vyacheslav Molotov, signs the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in the presence of the representatives of Albania, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, as well as a delegate from the People’s Republic of China.

On 17 May 1955, Jean Le Roy, French chargé d'affaires in Moscow, informs Antoine Pinay, French Foreign Minister, of the reactions in the countries of Eastern Europe to the signature three days earlier of the Warsaw Pact.

On 17 May 1955, the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the political and military issues raised by the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

On 31 May 1955, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera discusses the impact of the signing, on 14 May 1955, of the Warsaw Pact, a military agreement concluded between the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

In June 1955, the monthly journal Études soviétiques, published by the Soviet Information Bureau in Paris, prints an article outlining the various obligations resulting from the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed by the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

On 30 April 1956, Willi Stoph, the East German Defence Minister, leads the official ceremony to mark the presentation of the colours to the First Mechanised Regiment of the National People’s Army of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Map illustrating the growing influence of the Soviet Union in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.