SOVIET INVOLVEMENT IN THE WEST EUROPEAN PEACE MOVEMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001001530019-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Sequence Number: 19
• Content Type: REPORT

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ambitious campaign to, .nfa. tra e p -
to block deployment of US INF on West European soil, osc _
t and ex loit the European peace movement.
- '
SOME INVOLVEM NT TN THE WEST EUROPEAN PEACE N0VEMEIIT
In the?past three years, in support of Moscow's direct diplomatic efforts
M -'has conducted an -
To conduct such a campagzt,
-- term the use to refer to activities worldwide that are
a *'
? the Soviets rely on a full range of so-called
-
!active measures J - - -
intended to promote Soviet foreign policy goals but which go beyon
_ `t for iri' _ and TAIitarv means. In an intelligence
from espionage an4 Cifii~LC~Lasa.ca.fa~c..~~?~ i. .z t' _ ' : r = -
ff
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ect
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like all major decisions a
w.IIlt~mat~ approval for their uses
with the politburo and Central Committee Secretariat.
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Those ~oaeasures that have to be carried out -c
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The Soviets have irec e
anti-nuclear demonstrations and meetings and to coordinate their efforts with
non-Communist peace activists. Moscow's involvement has been Most active with
regard to the countries that are slated actually for deployment of US
Moscow has instructed West European Communists and the leaders of the
pro-Soviet international organizations to make the anti-INF campaign their
foremost concern and has provided funding and political guidance for their
peace movement activity.
Operational Guidance
? d' t d West European Communist parties to organize
ns abroad are carried out by official and quasiro#ficial s..:
ti
o
Actual opera
Soviet representatives, including journalists, scholars, and students. -~s.:.. .:
campaign against the neutron bo:a .
s nCz nr3,eduled deployment
campaign are adaptations o 0
? of b to The sco a and intensa.ty of the USSR's -
Many of t s ac
f th se that proved effective in the 1977-78
h tive measures currently being employed in the anti INF
the resources committed to it are siren
it would cost the US government over $100 million to duplicate one of the
USSR's active measures programs: the anti-neutron "bomb" campaign.,:
e s
t
We believe 131a
? ble We calculate, for example., that
h cafe of the worldwide active measures program and
efforts..
~mpiemeuLa..~ LL ~~rv '
-operat_ions,_planted press items, clandestine radio broadcasts, and. other
Use of Communist Parties and Front Organizations
dates approach.
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missiles, particularly West 'Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The
Soviets have not, however, neglected anti-nuclear sentiment in countries-like
Greece--which are peripheral to the ItF debate. -
xne vieznerlauas preaeuL;s a cauG wumu= .avr+c~ a...,.... .... _------- ------o _ _ .
indigenous anti-war and anti-nuclear sentiments have been most successful.
Soviet efforts bore fruit here long before anywhere else with the creation, in
1977, of a Soviet-assisted mass movement to protest against the issue of the
day-the neutron "bomb." The Dutch Communist Party CCPN) and its fronts are
generally acknowledged to be one of the two leading forces promoting the peace
movement in the Netherlands. - ``
The Soviets also are utilizing their international front organizations to
initiate and direct some of the anti-nuclear activities in Western Europe and.:
to try to attract non-Communist participants to'?lend credibility to Soviet
objectives.:: ? ' . - - ~_ - - ? -
'?' The Helsinki based World Peace Council (WPC), the major Soviet--controlled,'
'international organization, is particularly active in planning and trying to
coorainace and control.
The USSR and its East European allies contribute cons iderable'financial Y;.
and material support to the West European peace movement covertly through
Communist parties and front organizations. The World Peace Council receives
contributions from Moscow and other Communist Parties, particularly in Eastern
-=Europe. - _" .? -
The Soviets also fund the peace 'movement openly.
In an interview last May in the Austrian press, Soviet Central Committee
official Vadim Zagladin provided details about the "Soviet Peace Fund" and its
support to Western peace groups, including the WPC and its affiliates in
various West European countries. ?-.
A former Soviet Peace Fund 'chairman asserted in the English-language
Moscow News in the spring of 1981 that his clients included "leaders of the
.-international democratic organizations working for peace" and cooperated with
another ostensibly "public" Soviet organization, the Committee for the Defense
of Peace (SCDP) to "render financial aid to organizations,, movements, and
personalities." =
Propaganda Guidelines
The Soviets have sought to direct the focus of the West European peace
movement by providing Communist parties and front organizations with
propaganda themes keyed to local concerns and other US and NATO policies.
The Soviets are also concerned about the growing tendency among WesE -
European peace activists to blame the USSR as well as the US for the arras
race.
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Because of the urgency of their anti-INF campaign, the Soviets have
risked discrediting some West European peace groups through the covert
involvement in peace movement activity of diplomats and other Soviet officials
abroad.
On 19 November, the Dutch press. reported that representatives of the
Soviet Embassy and trade mission in the Netherlands had violated diplomatic
rules by getting directly involved in the peace movement.
In October, the Danish Foreign Ministry declared the second secretary of ?-
the Soviet Embassy in Copenhagen persona non grata because of his infiltration
of local anti NATO and peace groups and other subversive activities."
~'.. ' ? ' .. - ' ? .
The Soviets have been stepping up their contacts with West German
propagandize Soviet positions on major security issues.
USSR's peace movement objectives.
The Soviets routinely try to exploit the Western press to advance the
Influence Through Forei n Media and Disinformation _
rxca g
several areas of Bonn in mid-November alerting citizens to measures concerning
the transport of nuclear and conventional weapons through the city. The
forgery clearly was intended to aggravate public concern about the recent
accident involving a Pershing I transporter.
The press organs of pro-Soviet European Communist par es, a oug ey
have limited circulation, provide sympathetic coverage of the USSR's policies
and activities regarding anti-nuclear issues. This prevails even on the
lowest level, as in the case of the local Communist party newspaper that
reported daily on the tour of Denmark last November of a Soviet peace
delegation. -
Disinformation and forgeries are other "active measures" the Soviets and
their allies pursue.
For example, the West German Communist Party may have been involved in
f b tin or disseminating a purported official notice that was posted in
? t' lth ti th
The KGB, usually through front organizations, provides funding for West
European media sympathetic to Soviet interests. For example, late last year
it provided, via a Luxembourg based East German front organization, the
funding to'finance the new printing installations of the pro-Soviet Gree'e.
Communist Party.
issues.
The left--leaning West German-magazine Der Spiegel, for example, is a
leader in publishing interviews with the Soviets, particularly on arms control
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Determining ? the Effectiveness of Soviet Efforts
Despite these unceasing efforts of the Soviets and their local allies., we
believe that Communist infiltration, funding, and influence are secondary
factors -in- the West European peace movement. Strong anti nuclear movements _ ?
probably would have developed in all the INF basing countries (except Italy,
where the determining influence of the powerful Communist Party is ambiguous)
even without Soviet or Communist involvement..
Moreover, the active measures taken by the Soviets and their allies--
although they can do- much to reinforce and manipulate opposition to UW have --
not-actually created this oppostion. nevertheless, the Soviets profit from
existing, indigenous anti-nuclear sentiment generated by heightened East-West
ro ams affecting
r
West European countries.
=c- overt Campaign Most Effective
tensions and greater public awareness of nuclear weapons p g
r'? ~ ?3 r . _ _~~1 ___..a 1... !?~s 1/~Vl PZ?s is their incessant
emphasis in public and private meetings with West: nurvprt-?L- wz&
nd arms control is contrast to the US,
t
d
? ?
e a
eten
ostensible commitment to
''
_ ? : _ _
alleged drive toward "military supremacy.
litical influence operation" is difficult to-counter
f "
s
po
type o
Thi
because many West. Europeans consider meetings with Soviet officials and local
Communists as a'legitimate means of obtaining information.
Nevertheless, Western information campaigns aimed at exposing the
Soviets' biased analysis and fabrications have undercut the impact of such
contacts.
Non-Communist Peace Groups More Successful
The Interchurch Peace Council (IKV) represents a stronger current in the
peace movement in the Netherlands than the Dutch Communist Party, whose
influence has diminished further over the past year.
The ruling Socialist Party in Greece has created a peace group
independent of those in which the pro-Soviet Greek Communists participate.
The largest peace demonstrations owe more to the organizational efforts
of non-Communist groups than to those of the Soviets or their proxies, and
conferences sponsored wholly or in part by Communist groups often fail to
attract broadly representative groups in the peace movement.
Public Awareness of Communist Exploitation Efforts
We believe that most West Euro can political leaders distinguish between
Communist agitation and peace activity that mobilizes or wins the sympathy of
non-extremist groups. These leaders generally perceive political pressure as
arising from the latter.
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 and significant religious and academic leaders in p
refuse to acknowledge Soviet involvement or choose to disregard it.
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Although most responsible West European leaders realize that Communist
eon movemenit e-di
direction
and Communist front organizations active in the pEeace
from Moscow, the left-wing elements of some West p
the eace movement either
dominated by Communists or by those eXplici y y
and US cd yes rarSoviet activists 10;11,y, influeu
objectives-per set and on occasion are
to amplify the ir deaun~ciat~-ons of N - - - - ? -
The largest and most xnfluential peace gr p the. Netherlands and the Campaign for Nuclear.Di rmamenathetic to Soviet _are not
Z 40- 4M
a
-orien or
p u b l i c exposure of g r o u p s that e u e o r e a ~ r~ cevaiet
cevxststta t h e t h r e a t to -
domiuated has sensitized other West E r p P
E, osure- of Communist Involvement .
?-Western Europe.
_. _- disclosures have discredited Soviet dap7.omatic an
oted policies regarding divisions within Afghanistan
the peace.
popular attention to Soviet
encouraged this tendency and p - _ r
-tovement.
Revelations of forgeries, expulsions of Soviet diplomats, and other -` -
? d overt propaganda efforts in
.:have become more vigilant against Communes a p
= As a result ?of?such publicity, some of,the larger peace organizations-:
? t Item is to influence. them.
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? ou s--such as the IKV in: the
the credibility of the movement as a whale- - - ..~