Extract from minutes of the 243rd meeting of the WEU Council held at ministerial level (London, 23–24 January 1964)

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At the 243rd meeting of the Council of Western European Union (WEU), held at ministerial level on 23 and 24 January 1964 in London, the delegations discuss the situation of East–West relations. British Foreign Secretary Richard Austen Butler shares the concerns of Federal Foreign Minister Gerhard Schröder over the change in the USSR’s tactics. The two believe that internal difficulties will cause the Soviets to review their strategy, although the aims of communism will remain essentially the same. With regard to disarmament, the two governments affirm that they are keen to support any efforts to reach an agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, but not at the expense of Western security, which is based on nuclear dissuasion. French Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville agrees with the British and German analysis but adds that the US proposals at the disarmament conference should in no way lead to neutrality in Germany or in Central Europe.

Source and copyright

Source: Council of the Western European Union. Extract from minutes of 243th meeting of WEU Council held at ministerial level in London on 23th and 24th January 1964. CR (64) 3. Part I. pp. 14-17; 19.

Archives nationales de Luxembourg (ANLux). http://www.anlux.lu. Western European Union Archives. Secretariat-General/Council’s Archives. 1954-1987. Foundation and Expansion of WEU. Year: 1963, 01/10/1963-30/11/1965. File 132.15. Volume 1/7.

Copyright: (c) WEU Secretariat General - Secrétariat Général UEO

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