NSDD 54 United States Policy towards Eastern Europe

SECRET SYSTEM II 90561 DECLASSIFIED Authority Leary to Wedness, 4/20/05 PD THE WHITE HOUSE BY sy , NARA, Date 5/15/06/2019 Fril WASHINGTON SECRET ust September 2 , 1982 National Security Decision Directive 54 UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD EASTERN EUROPE * to I have reviewed the interagency report on United States policy toward the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. I have determined that the primary long-term U.S. goal in Eastern Europe is to loosen the Soviet hold on the region and thereby facilitate its eventual reintegration into the European community of nations. Western influence in the region admittedly is limited by Moscow's willingness to use force against developments which threaten what it perceives as its vital interests in the region. The United States, however, can have an important impact on the region, provided it continues to differentiate in its policies toward the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe, and among the countries of Eastern Europe, so as to encourage diversity through political and economic policies tailored to individual countries. While the impact of differentiation in some cases may be marginal, it offers the best vehicle for achieving the primary U.S. goal of weakening overall Soviet control in the region. In implementing this policy, the baseline for comparison will be our policy toward the Soviet Union. +st Differentiation will aim at: -- Encouraging more liberal trends in the region. -- Furthering human and civil rights in East European countries. -- Reinforcing the pro-Western orientation of their peoples. -- Lessening their economic and political dependence on the USSR and facilitating their association with the free nations of Western Europe. -- Undermining the military capabilities of the Warsaw Pact. Encouraging more private market-oriented development of their economies, free trade union activity, etc. tst * In this NSDD Eastern Europe refers to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Yugoslavia will be the subject of a separate NSDD. Given Albania's seeming disinterest in a viable relationship with the U.S. at this time, and its non-membership in the Warsaw Pact, it does not merit either inclusion in this NSDD or a separate study. tex cy / of 12 conica RI FII E