Millions reject missiles in western Europe

‘ Socialist countries
respond to NATO plan
to deploy missiles

From Berlin |

Fils Delisle

The German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia, to-
gether with the Soviet Union, have begun shaping their practical
reply to NATO’s currently proceeding build-up of new U.S.
nuclear missiles in Western Europe. With launching ramps for

West Germany, preparations are now being made for the de-
ployment of corresponding tactical medium range missiles on
GDR and Czechoslovak territory. :

The socialist response to NATO’s nuclear escalation was an-
nounced simultaneously in Moscow, socialist Berlin and Prague.
All three countries emphasized that they stood for disarmament,
peace and detente but now found themselves compelled to take
action in the face of NATO’s open preparations to station 572 or
more U.S. nuclear missiles in Western Europe.

The socialist governments also emphasized that the action was
being started to keep pace with the nuclear missiles escalation
already under way in western Europe. It was clear that ifthe USA
and its NATO partners agreed to negotiate in good faith on
reduction of nuclear armaments instead of escalating them, ‘‘no
matter what,’’ a new and more favorable situation would be
created for both sides. :

The socialist countries’ announcement came after a confer-
ence in Berlin of the Defence Ministers of the Warsaw Pact
countries and consultations in Prague between Erich Honecker
and Gustav Husak, heads of state of the GDR and Czecho-
slovakia. It was preceded by more than two years of warnings by
government leaders, commentators and public bodies in the
Warsaw Pact countries that the socialist bloc would never permit
Washington and NATO to alter the rough military balance in the
world.

The Moscow-Berlin-Prague statements give the lie to the
grotesque propaganda in Washington and Bonn that the NATO
countries must proceed with their nuclear missile build-up be-
cause that is the only language the communists understand, and
such nuclear escalation by the West could force the Warsaw Pact
countries to bend the knee to the West. The sponsors of this
propaganda knew it was a lie and used it in an attempt to confuse
and lull their peoples.

In the Berlin statement, the National Defence Council of the
GDR declared: ‘‘the USA and its NATOallies are currently under-
taking manifold measures to win military superiority over the
member states of the Warsaw Pact and to decisively alter the
existing approximate military balance in their favor. That goal is
being served by the projected stationing of new American rocket
Systems in west Europe, with the territory of the Federal German
Republic to become a central starting place for atomic first-strike

States of the socialist community.

‘The German Democratic Republic, in full accord with the
other member states of the Warsaw pact, has repeatedly drawn
attention to the dangerous consequences of stationing new U.S.
medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, and has repeatedly
declared that in the event (of such deployment) the socialist states
would be compelled to take counter measures.

“The Soviet Union, the GDR and the other member states of
the Warsaw Pact have put forward numerous proposals and
Continue to stand behind these proposals, which would serve the
Purpose of making progress along the road to relaxation of ten-
Sions, the limitation of armaments and disarmament.

‘Because of the fact that the USA is bringing to completion the
Preparations for stationing the land-based Pershing 2 and Cruise
missiles in a number of west European NATO states, the Soviet
Union, the GDR and the other socialist states are compelled to
take additional measures to guarantee their security.

‘In accordance with an agreement between the Government of
the Soviet Union and the Government of the German Democratic
Republic, the preparatory work is beginning for the stationing of
Tocket systems of an operative and tactical nature. :

“The steps being undertaken have the character of a counter
Measure to the projected deployment of American rockets in
Europe. Their aim is to maintain the balance in nuclear weapons
between the Warsaw Pact and NATO in Europe.’ ie

The Soviet and Czechoslovak announcements were along simi-
lar lines. The Soviet statement stressed the fact that the NATO
nuclear missile build-up now under way “‘compelled the Soviet

vernment to take additional measures to guarantee its own

= as well as the security of its allies in the Warsaw Pact.

~

the U.S. nuclear missiles already being set up in Britain, Italy and .

weapons of the USA against the USSR, the GDR and the other

Special to the Tribune

Millions of people came into the streets in west
European cities on October 22 to demonstrate the
dramatic fact that the clear majority rejects the
NATO plan to station more nuclear missiles on
their territories.

In West Germany, an estimated 1,300,000
people representing various political tendencies,
creeds and viewpoints joined together in the
greatest peace demonstrations in the FRG’s his-
tory. The four concentration points were Bonn,
Hamburg, Stuttgart, NEW-ULM.

In Bonn, the presence among the speakers of
Willi Brandt, chairman of the Social Democratic
Party (SPD) and of the Socialist International, in-
dicated how widely and powerfully the peace
movement has spread its influence. Brandt’s pre-
sence, officially approved by the SPD executive,
marked a profound change in viewpoint in the
SPD, which had originally, as a governing party,
sponsored the NATO missiles escalation plan.

Now Brandt declared flatly that the missiles
build-up was wrong, dangerous and had to be re-
versed. There was no alternative, he declared, to
honest negotiations with the socialist countries for
peace and disarmament.

Herbert Mies, chairman of the West German
Communist Party (DKP), declared that the peace
demonstrations were ‘‘a manifestation of the
people’s will that it is impossible to ignore’’. He
added: ‘‘They were in effect a people’s referendum
which denied the government and parliament the
mandate to decide to deploy-new U.S. atomic roc-
kets against the will of the majority of the people’.

The unprecedented FRG peace demonstrations
were paralleled by similar ‘‘people’s referendums’”’
elsewhere in western Europe. In West Berlin, the
separate capitalist enclave inside the territory of
the GDR, 150,000 people marched behind banners
calling for “‘more negotiations instead of deploy-
ment’’. The picture was equally impressive else-
where: in Rome, 500,000 marched for peace, in
Paris, 150,000 in Brussels, 400,000, in Madrid,
200,000, in Vienna, 100,000, in London, 500,000, in

LONDON (New Worker) Attempts by the
Thatcher government propaganda machine to
claim that the peace movement in Britain had
suffered a mortal blow from the Tory election
victory in June came to grief on Saturday Oc-
tober 22, when the biggest demonstration in
post-war British history brought central London
to a standstill.

armament (CND) under the slogans ‘‘No
Cruise, no Trident, freeze nuclear weapons’’.
The demonstration drew massive support from
trade unions, political parties, churches and the
thousands of peace groups throughout Britain.

Demonstrators came from as far afield as
Stornaway in the Hebrides. Six hundred
coaches and 40 special trains were chartered to
bring demonstrators to the capital.

Departing from the embankment, the mar-
chers split into three separate marches and took
five hours to complete the route to the mass rally
in Hyde Park.

Reports on London’s BBC Radio station at
5:30 p.m. put the numbers in the park at 450,000
with more marchers still arriving. The final
figure was estimated to be over half a million.

The police, who had earlier said that the num-
bers were too large to count, finally came out
with an obvious crass underestimate of 200,000.

CND general secretary Bruce Kent described
the rally as a ‘magnificent total rejection’ of
media and government theories that the peace
movement was on the decline.

‘In this country,’ he said, ‘nearly two hundred
nuclear-free zone local authorities have been
able to put paid to government plans for so-
called civil defence. We actually stopped the
*hard rock’ exercise last year and we will do the
same for any of its successors.

‘‘We have built a major, effective and well
informed body of public opinion.

No one is ever going to close the secret door

London protest sees 500,000
opposing Cruise deployment

Organized by the Campaign for Nuclear dis- _ famed group of people of this country, who have

PHOTO —TASS

West Germans take to the streets to protest de-
ployment of U.S. missiles in their country.

Stockholm, 80,000. Similar demonstrations also
took place on a mass scale in other countries.

In the GDR, where peace is state policy, there is
continuing peace activity at all times. Two events
which paralelled the activities in the West were a
demonstrations of 100,000 for peace in Halle and a
marathon festival of peace, song and youth in the
great hall of the People’s Palace, with 4,000 young
people attending. One of the stars of the evening
was Harry Belafonte, the internationally famous
singer and actor.

on the issue of the arms race again.”

Paying tribute to the heroic peace cam-
paigners througout Britain, Bruce Kent said ‘‘I
salute in your name, those who sat in the
bridgend nuclear bunker as concrete was
poured over them until plans for that bunker had
to be abandoned. Above all I salute the women
of Greenham Common, perhaps the most de-

despite assaults, arson, abuse and filth, made
the name of Greenham a symbol of resistance all
round the world.”

The rally was also addressed by veteran
peace campaigner Lord Fenner Brockway, by
bishop of the Indian Ocean Trevor Huddle-
stone, Nicaraguan Ambassador Fransisco
d’Escoto, the newly elected leader of the Labor -
Party Neil Kinnock, and by Transport and Gen-
eral Workers’ union leader Ron Todd, among
many others.

“‘This is the greatest rally I have ever taken
part in,’’ said Bishop Huddlestone, veteran of
many demonstrations. Lord Brockway, now
aged 95 affirmed his conviction that the peace
movement throughout the world would carry on
growing until it was powerful enough to force
peace on the warmongers.

CND Chairwoman Joan Ruddock warned
that ‘‘Cruise missiles are war-fighting weapons,
for use as part of a massive first-strike on the
USSR.”’

In opening the rally, Ruddock firmly asserted,
“Today we have demonstrated that the peace
movement intends to remain in the centre stage
of British life. We will not be written off as a
fringe element or a bunch of subversives. We
will not disintegrate in the face of the threatened
Cruise deployment.

Together we represent all of the various
strands and groups in our society and together
we join in friendship with those who de-
monstrate in other countries.”’

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 2, 1983—Page 5