RUSSIA’S THREAT IN EUROPE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31080, 8 June 1966, Page 17

RUSSIA’S THREAT IN EUROPE

(HZ- Press Assn. —Copyright) BRUSSELS, June 6. Foreign Ministers in Brussels for the N.A.T.O. Ministerial conference agree that the threat of a Soviet attack on Western Europe has all but disappeared, says K. C. Thaler, of United Press International.

Thaler wrote in an analysis: But they remain uncertain as to Russia’s long-term designs and Moscow’s willingness formally to end the cold war in Europe. These conclusions are backed by an assessment of Soviet policy drafted by N.A.T.O. planners for the current ministerial deliberations. The future of East-West relations is high up on the

agenda of this conference, which also is to decide whether or not the Allies should initiate a new East-West peace probe with the Kremlin. There is agreement that soundings should be taken in Moscow, but the nature of the approach and its timing and scope are yet to be determined. The N.A.T.O. alliance feels generally relaxed *t present about Russia’s posture toward Europe—probably more than it has ever been since its creation 17 years ago. All is quiet in Berlin, which not long ago was still the focal trouble spot in Europe where East and West faced each other in readiness for a threatening clash. There have been no Soviet threats for some time and diplomatic experts do not foresee any in the near future.

Russia is heavily preoccupied with her East European

allies who are pressing with increasing success for greater independence from Moscow.

Some, like Rumania, are opposing the latest Kremlin plans for a tightening of the Warsaw Pact defence alignment The firmness of the Warsaw Pact is being undermined from within, the experts believe. But above all, Russia’s greatest trouble is in the Far East where the one-time friendship with Chins, has turned into open hostility, with hardly veiled claims from Peking to a sizeable slice of Soviet territory in Asia.

The Allied opinion therefore is that Russia is not likely at present to embark on new ventures on the Western side of the Iron Curtain.

But so long as there is no European settlement with Russia, th- Kremlin remains uncommitted and indications

are that It wants to continue its wait-and-see policy. In the view of the policy assessment before N.A.T.O. leaders, Soviet tactics could be changed overnight even though there is nothing to suggest at the moment any drastic switch.

Russian military might, the assessment said, remains massed at the borders of West Europe. Twenty Soviet divisions are still in East Germany and the Russians do not show signs of willingness to evacuate Hungary or Poland. Several hundred Soviet rockets remain trained on West Europe. Much will depend, the assessment said, on the course the Sino-Soviet feud will take. Any relaxation could suddenly turn Moscow’s interest back to Europe, "’hereas its intensification is likely to keep Russia preoccupied with Asia.'