North Atlantic Treaty Organization

CouncilOn July 16, the Council of the North Adantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its seventeenth ministerial session in Paris under the chairmanship of Stephanos Stephanopolos, Foreign Minister of Greece. According to press reports, the session had been arranged to provide an opportunity for the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to exchange views with their NATO colleagues prior to the Geneva Conference. The one-day meeting agreed that the unification of Germany was the issue of primary importance to be discussed at Geneva. Nothing should be done to prejudice the ultimate uniting of Germany by free elections or its right to choose its own foreign policy when unified. Following the remarks of Mr. Spaak, it was agreed that the defense system built around the Adantic coalition was not negotiable, and that the NATO system should not be subject to discussion with die Soviet Union. Germany should remain in this system whatever new agreement on arms limitations might be reached, and a united Germany should have the right to adhere to the system if it so chose. Mr. Spaak urged that the two sides should agree at Geneva not to increase their forces rather than try to agree on immediate major reductions in armaments.