Preparations for the Summit Conference 337



     [Enclosure]1


              GENERAL NORSTAD'S VIEWS ON A
          EUROPEAN INSPECTION ZONE PROPOSAL
    The various proposals of the past decade for establishing an inter-
nationally controlled zone in Europe have each contained features
which made them unacceptable to the West, at least from the military
standpoint. For example, the Eden plan of 19552 envisaged a demilita-
rized zone which was too narrow to be of practical value in the rapidly
moving situations of modern warfare. Furthermore, originally it would
have used the boundary between East and West Germany as a line of
departure, an aspect of the plan which appeared to sanction a divided
Germany and was clearly unsatisfactory. The Rapacki Plan, in its 1958
modification, advocated a limited denuclearized zone in Central
Europe which would essentially have deprived the NATO nations of
their nuclear shield while leaving the massive forces of the Soviets
poised within striking distance of Western Europe. At best it was de-
pendent on confidence that the Soviets would carry out the terms of an
agreement which could not be controlled or enforced. As for the recent
Soviet disarmament proposals, it is not necessary to cite their ambiguity
and impracticability.
    The Western Nations are searching for and require measures which
will maintain and guarantee security while reducing dangerous ten-
sions. It was to this end that the 1957 Disarmament Conference in Lon-
don3 discussed the establishment of an inspection and control system in
various areas involving Europe, the Soviet Union, North America and
the Arctic. From the military point of view, this was a satisfactory ap-
proach to the problem of security, and the present suggestions on con-
trol and inspection in the European area are related to the general
discussions which took place at that time.
    The basic thoughts on this subject were outlined to the NAC in
June, 1957, and, since that time, a zonal system of military inspection
and control focusing on Central Europe has been under study at
SHAPE. The points hereafter outlined derive from this study. Six crite-
ria were established as essential to any plan of this nature to be put for-
ward by the West at this time:



    1Secret. Transmitted from Paris in Polto 4800, April 15. (Ibid., 600.00121/4-1560)
A
copy of these views was given to the British, French, and West Germans at
a meeting of the
Four-Power Working Group on Germany Including Berlin on April 21.
    2 For documentation on the Eden Plan, see Foreign Relations, 1955-1957,
vol. V, p.291,
footnote 4, and p. 301.
    3For documentation on the 1957 London Disarmament Conference, see ibid.,
vol.
XX, pp. 664 ff.