UNCLASSIFIED SUMMARY OF PUBLIC POSITIONS ON INF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00287R000500760001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 4, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 11, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/04: =LLIfto
11 February 1983
Unclassified Summary of Public Positions on IMF
Although the Vice President's tour ended yesterday, West European media continued to
ccmnent on statements he made in Paris and London. Moscow has not yet ceased its verbal
assault on the Vice President. STAT
Vice President had "confirmed Washington's willingness to canpranise."
After nearly five hours of debate, the governing body of the Church of England
yesterday rejected a call that the UK abandon its nuclear arsenal. Archbishop
of Canterbury Runcie strongly supported Thatcher's opposition to the proposal.
The London Press Association reported yesterday that Thatcher had "agreed" with
the Vice President that the West would accept a compromise at Geneva, adding
that the Prime Minister's "shift" in defense policy "came after a 75-minute
conversation with Mr. Bush." The Guardian editorialized that "Bush has learned
a little on his European trek. He pointedly declined to use the words 'zero
option' at all in the Guildhall yesterday." The paper also cited the lack of
new "specific" US negotiating proposals. The Financial Times observed that the
West Die Welt (conservative) yesterday editorialized that the debate over IMF STAT
Germany "threatens to obscure the fact that our commitment to the Alliance and the
basic orientation of our life are at stake." The paper sarcastically dismissed
a comment by SPD official Erhard Eppler that there would be no "reasonable" INF
agreement until Defense Secretary Weinberger resigned. According to Die Welt,
Eppler has a "weakness for the Kremlin's style." Frankfurter Rundschau (left-
center) remarked that Moscow was trying its best to "appear a serious partner
in the III' negotiations," but added that if the USSR wished to "maintain this
impression" it should stop the "propaganda exercises." The SPD weekly
Vorwaerts disparaged the idea of an interim agreement at Geneva, claiming that
such talk "amounts to an attempt to make people became used to missiles in
small doses." STAT
France Nouveau Journal (centrist) noted the Vice President "emphasized that his car
versaticns with Mitterrand and Cheysson have strengthened the message received
in West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy." The conservative busi-
ness daily Les Echos expressed concern that by cooperating too closely with the
US, France was jeopardizing its traditional independence.
Italy The leftist La Repubblica reported that "George Bush acknowledged with satis-
faction" that the dual key issue was not included in his talks with British
officials. The Christian Democratic paper 11 polo published a "centerfold"
comparing Eastern and Western forces. Headlines included: "The USSR's Great
Challenge For Supremacy" and "The West Discusses, But The USSR Deploys Masses
of Missiles." Other major Italian papers continued to interpret the Vice
President's statements in Paris and London as indications of US flexibility.
USSR TASS yesterday disputed the US claim that the Geneva talks were progressing in
a serious and businesslike fashion, alleging that the negotiations were dead-
locked as a result of US "bluff and hoodwinking." The Ministry of Defense
paper Red Star charged that the Vice President "resorted to hours pocus" when
he announced President Reagan's summit invitation last week
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/04: CIA-RDP85T00287R000500760001-5