Page 152

DOCUMENTS ON GERMANY, 1944-59
II.
12. The States-parties to the Treaty agree that during the first
period (two or three years) of the implementation of measrles for the
establishment of the system of collective security in Europe under the
present Treaty they shall not be relieved of the obligations assumed
by them under existing treaties and agreements.
At the same time the States-parties to existing treaties and agree-
ments which provide for military commitments shall refrain from the
use of armed force and shall settle by peaceful means all the disputes
that may arise between them. Consultations shall also take place
between the parties to the corresponding treaties, and agreements in
case any differences or disputes arise among them which might con-
stitute a threat to the maintenance of peace in Europe.
13. Pending the conclusion of agreements on the reduction of arma-
ments and the prohibition of atomic weapons and on the withdrawal
of foreign troops from the territories of European countries, the
States-parties to the Treaty undertake not to take any further steps
to increase their armed forces on the territories of other European
states under treaties and agreements concluded by them previously.
14. The States-parties to the Treaty agree that on the expiration of
an agreed time-limit from the entry into force of the present Treaty,
the Warsaw Treaty of May 14, 1955, the Paris Agreements of October
23, 1954, and the North Atlantic Treaty of April 4, 1949 shall become
ineffective.
15. The duration of the Treaty >shall be 50 years.
Soviet Proposal: Basic Principles of the Treaty Between the
Existing Groups of States in Europe, July 21, 19551
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE TREATY BETWEEN THE
EXISTING GROUPS OF STATES IN EUROPE
Guided by the desire to strengthen peace and recognizing the neces-
sity to contribute in every possible way to reducing international
tension and establishing confidence in relations between states,
The Governments of the Soviet Union, the United States of
America, France and the United Kingdom have agreed that the
conclusion of a treaty between the member states of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Western European Union on
the one hand, and the parties to the Warsaw Treaty on the other,
would be in the interest of the maintenance of peace in Europe. Such
a treaty might be based on the following principles:
1. The member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
and of the Paris Agreements, on the one hand, and the parties to the
Warsaw Treaty, on the other, undertake to refrain from the use of
armed force against one another. This undertaking shall not infringe
upon the right of states to individual or collective self-defense in the
event of an armed attack, as provided in Article 51 of the Charter.
1 Ibid., p. 54.