‘MYSTERY’ OF RELATIONS IN EAST DEEPENS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31084, 13 June 1966, Page 13

‘MYSTERY’ OF RELATIONS IN EAST DEEPENS

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MOSCOW, June 12. A surprise meeting between the Soviet Communist Party chief, Mr Leonid Brezhnev, and the Rumanian Foreign Minister, Mr Cornelius Manescu, has deepened the mystery surrounding relations between the two countries.

The meeting yesterday followed a call by Rumania’s Communist Party leader, Mr Nicolae Ceausescu, for the abolition of N.A.T.O and the Warsaw Pact.

Relations between Rumania and the Soviet Union have not been clear since Mr Ceausescu made a speech last month rejecting Soviet claims

to supreme leadership in Eastern Europe. After the speech, Mr Brezhnev rushed to Bucharest on May 10. A communique at the end of his three-day visit failed to contain the assertion of unity of views which is usual between East European countries.

At the beginning of last week Warsaw Pact Foreign Ministers are believed to have

held a meeting in Moscow but this was never officially confirmed or mentioned in the Soviet press. Moscow officials said the meeting was held after Rumania baulked at paying her share of the pact’s costs. LONG-TERM AIM In his call for the abolition of the two military agreements, Mr Ceausescu said: “This is the way to security in Europe.” Observers in Moscow noted that the call was not very different from what the Soviet Union has been saying. They said it was seen as a long-term aim, rather than a serious immediate objective.

This \ speech could mean that Mr Ceausescu has moved closer to the Soviet view that present international tensions call for a boosting of Communist military strength, rather than a relaxation.

What he appears to want is more independence for the junior members in the 11-year-old Warsaw Pact. The Soviet news agency.

Tass, in a first report of Mr Ceausescu’s speech, did not mention his call for the abolition of military blocs, but reported it in a later, fuller account of his speech.

However, it was reported in East Berlin that Mr Ceausescu’s speech appeared to be a direct blow to recent intensive Soviet efforts to unify the East European countries behind a policy of bolstering their military alliance. His outspoken demand seemed certain to raise tension among the Warsaw Pact members in view of next month’s summit meeting. The East German official news agency reported Mr Ceausescu’s speech, but did not comment. In Warsaw, it was reported that Poland viewed with dismay any move to weaken the pact. MAJOR THREAT Poland still regards West Germany as the major threat to peace in Europe and relies, for its defence guarantees against West Germany, on the Soviet alliance in the pact. If the Warsaw Pact were to be watered down, then Poland might press for a northern tier alliance binding East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. Political observers in Vienna noted similar terms of expressions in Mr Ceausescu’s speech, and in one earlier this week by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Mr Gyula Kallai. Mr Kallai, addressing the political academy of the Hungarian Communist Party in Budapest last Monday, listed among the most important steps to be taken towards peaceful co-existence the conclusion of a non-aggression treaty between N.A.T.O. and the Warsaw Pact, general collective security systems to replace military pacts, and the elimination of military bases abroad.