Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 August 23, 1951 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 S Re E T° By DEB NLT, Date 9-5-80 SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS THE NETHERLANDS In a discussion in London between the Dutch NATO Council Deputy, Mr. Starkenborgh, and the American Deputy, the former indicated that his Government is fearful of French hegemony in the European Defense Force (EDF) and believes that full German membership in NATO is essential to assure NATO control over the EDF. The Dutch Deputy said that his Government is veering with great reluctance and doubt toward participation in the EDF, and that at a recent conference of Dutch Ambasadors which was attended by the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, opinion was unanimously against participation. He said the present shift in Dutch policy toward participation was based primarily on economic grounds the establishment of a European Defense Force would inevitably involve the development of close economic ties be - tween the participants, and Dutch dependence on trade with Germany and the transit trade through Amsterdam and Rotterdam would make it extremely difficult for the Netherlands to remain outside of any economic integration in which Germany, Belgium and France participated. The Dutch nevertheless viewed with serious concern the participation in far-reaching military arrange- - ments which were being hastily improvised and which would put all Dutch forces and 35 per cent of the total Dutch budget under international (French or German) military and political control. The Ambassador remarked that if NATO could develop effective control over the European Defense Force in those fields, particularly political, his Government would feel that the result would be more realistic militarily and would inspire more confidence in the budgetary and economic arrangements and the unbiased political control. He felt it was most important that the appointment of a European Defense Ministry and related agencies should not mean that participating governments would forego participating in- dividually in all NATO agencies except the Standing Group. UNITED KINGDOM An official of the German Political Department of the British Foreign Office has told Embassy London, in commenting on the September discussions on Germany, that the British still SEC R E I