On 4 June 1980, the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) adopts Recommendation 351 on the international situation and European security. The Assembly is concerned at the USSR’s military intervention in Afghanistan and Soviet expansion in the Middle East, an area which is of vital interest to the West. The deployment of new Soviet weapons in Eastern Europe is also liable to upset the balance on which peace depends. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Council ensure that the European members of the Atlantic Alliance should hold regular consultations on the policies they pursue outside the area covered by the North Atlantic Treaty. While continuing their efforts to sustain the defensive capability of NATO in the light of new Soviet weapons, they should make sure that disarmament negotiations are pursued between East and West. The members of the Atlantic Alliance should also agree on effective measures to be taken to convince the Soviet Union of their unanimous condemnation of the invasion of Afghanistan.