On 29 April 1981, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates the Council’s reply to Recommendation 359 of the WEU Assembly on the state of European security. The Council particularly focuses on the consequences of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan for the security of Western Europe and North America and welcomes the close consultations held by the allied countries on the matter, as well as the cohesion, solidarity and resolve achieved in the light of the Soviet Union’s demonstrated lack of restraint in the use of military force. The Council emphasises the efforts made by the Member States of the Atlantic Alliance to strengthen their defence posture and to find solutions to the new challenges that threaten their strategic and economic interests.