Dear Comrades,Our meeting is expected to take a stand regarding a very serious matter that is of vitalimportance not only for the socialist countries, but also for the people of all nations. Thisis why the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and thegovernment of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic agreed with the proposal to convenea meeting of the Political Consultative Committee, so that we could also discuss, inaddition to other urgent issues, our position with respect to the nuclear non-proliferationtreaty, which is currently being prepared.We also agreed to a preparatory meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers, hoping that itcould make a major contribution toward clarifying and harmonizing our positions, so thatwe could reach an agreement in principle here in Sofia and be able to present aunanimous standpoint, as all members of the Warsaw Treaty, calling for the speedyapproval and acceptance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.Unfortunately, Deputy Foreign Ministers meeting in Berlin failed to achieve any progresson this issue. Six of the Warsaw Treaty members, including the Czechoslovak SocialistRepublic, fully support the draft treaty submitted by the Soviet Union and the UnitedStates to the Eighteen-Nation [Disarmament] Committee. However, the SocialistRepublic of Romania harbors certain reservations, both material and tactical, regardingthe issue at hand and further steps to be taken, about which the Romanian comrades havealso notified us here in Sofia.Dear Comrades

I listened with attention to Comrade Ceauşescu’s speech, which he delivered a while agoand in which he explained to us once again in detail the position of the Socialist Republicof Romania with regard to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.I do not want to argue and deal with some of the proposals of our Romanian comrades indetail, but permit me a short comment regarding a proposed change in Article VI of thedraft nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which, in the opinion of the Romanian comrades,

should stipulate specific commitments by the nuclear powers with regard to nucleardisarmament. For the sake of accuracy, I will quote the proposal as stated in the speech ofComrade Ceauşescu: “The signatories possessing nuclear weapons hereby undertake toadopt specific measures to stop the production of nuclear weapons and to reduce anddispose of stocks of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles in the shortest timepossible.”Comrades, I believe I am telling you nothing new when I say that similar proposals aimedat the liquidation of nuclear weapons were presented by the Soviet Union a long time agoand that all socialist countries, including ours, have strived for their inclusion whenpushing for a treaty on universal and complete disarmament. The proposals are, inthemselves, fair and correct, but having held lengthy negotiations on these issues, weknow that the United States and its allies are not yet willing to accept them. I mention thisbecause we must always bear in mind that the acceptance of any proposal requires theconsent of the parties involved in the negotiations. As the United States has not hithertoagreed to the issues that the Romanian comrades propose to include in the treaty – and weknow very well that their position has not changed – its [the United States’] persistentresistance may wreck the treaty. Such a scenario would not benefit or be in the interest ofsocialist countries.The fact that some capitalist states, especially the Federal Republic of Germany, havesufficient industrial and technological capabilities to produce nuclear weapons, mustmake us not only concerned but also determined to take decisive steps to prevent suchdangerous developments....

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