https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/aab8482fa7843ae61dbd64c2af1bd2e5.pdf 339521da09d10a4bcf067d57f7fa249d PDF Text Text "2. DEPARTMENT OF Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act > la Loi sur I'acces a I'information Document divulgue en vertu dde T " (DUPLICATE) EXTERNAL AFFAIR^, CANADA. DESPATCH TO: THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, OTTAWA, CANADA. FROM- ^ e Canadian Ambassador, Copenhagen, Denmark. Reference: Subject:.. Our Despatch No. D-634 of Dec. 4 , Security:. S-B-C R £ T No: ST.6&..; Date . December 1 1 , 1?57 Enclosures: Air or Surface Mail:.. P?H 3 TM? ' 1957 Stationing of Nuclear Weapons and P9st FileNo.W^ripenmark Intermediate Rockets in Denmark. Ottawa File No. <yo*/9 • £9 References A y / ' f o y ZAuZt. dtnSfa/03. y~4o In his despatch under reference; and in other related despatches, the Ambassador has drawn to your attention the apparently irrevocable attitude adopted by the Danish Prime Minister, Mr. H. C. Hansen, to the stationing of nuclear weapons or atomic rocket warheads in Denmark. In para. 4 of his tlespatc under reference he also.. expressed his astonishment at the reply made by the Secretary-General of the Foreign Mnistry, Ambassador Svenningsen, to his question "Is the Danish Government1 s position in this matter irrevocable?". Tou will recall that the reply was no, that the matter is now under special study by the Government and will be examined by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Folketing in a secret session prior to the Paris meeting. Internal Circulation ) Distribution to Posts Oslo Stockholm Helsinki NATO, Parijs Ext. 180C (Rev. 2/52) 2* If, as one might be excused for concluding from the apparently contradictory attitudes being adopted by the Prime/ Foreign Minister and by his Permanent Head towards this vital subject, the Government is contemplating a possible change of mind at the Heads of State M T O Meeting in Parisj its task has not been made easier as a result of the widely-quoted comments recently made by a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, M r . James van Zandt, concerning rocket bases "all the way along the Scandinavian peninsula". Even though the tenor of Mr. Zandt's remarks appears to have been toned down in later reports reaching Copenhagen, the local press has shown rare unanimity in condemning his remarks as threatening an infringement of Danish sovereignty, and in so doing, has edged closer to the viewpoint expressed by the Prime Minister* On December 5 the Prime Minister felt called upon to give a further statement to the press on the subject of rocket sites, which was reported in Social Demokraten of that date as follows: v "I have seen a number of press reports about the coming NATO meeting in Paris, and nov; it seems James van Zandt has made a statement concerning matters affecting Scandinavian territory. This last undoubtedly causes me surprise, but in order that there should be no. doubt about it I should like to say that Denmark has received no application and no offer concerning rocket bases or weapons with atomic warheads. Denmark*s position was made clear by the Government declaration in May. In this it was stated that we do not wish to answer affirmatively should an offer of atomic weapons be made. Thus even if there is no such offer, 1 refer as a matter of form, to the Govern- . ment declaration." m 000708^ �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loisur I'acces a I'informatio - 2 - SECRET The wording used by the Prime Minister, while not backing away from his previous declarations, does le§ve the door slightly ajar for reconsideration should this prove necessary as a result of the NATO meeting, 3. As an example of hov; Danish public opinion (as reflected in the local press) has moved away from the possibility of accepting additional types of v/eapons to those already agreed to, I should like to draw your attention to the two editorials appearing in the December 2 and December 5 issues of Information (Independent), both dealing with NATO rocket plans. In the pre-Zandt editorial, the editors of Information, after pointing out that NATO's most important retribution weapon must continue to be the American stategic air force Isince it is in existence), agreed that a demonstration of agreement among NATO countries faced with the nev; Soviet threats, concerning a decision to station intermediate rockets in Western Europe, would have some importance. Not only wotild it constitute a forward step in the modernization of West European defence, but also something new in principle, since to date only tactical weapons have been placed in European NATO countries. The editors go on to say that the fact that the intermediate rockets, Thor and Jupiter, are strategic weapons, in itself might not frighten Western European states from accepting them, since it is unlikely that the Soviet Union in wartime would spare Western European countries, merely because they had refused to accept strategic rockets. As far as Information was concerned, the question was one of timing, since strategic rockets will not be available for another year and a half. Why should a decision be taken at the present time, it asked? 4The tone of the December 5 editorial differs considerably. After chastising those in Washington "who look until they are blind scanning a globe trying to find places where it would be nice to have rocket bases", it dismissed as "irresponsible nonsense, which can only benefit Communist propaganda by giving the Soviet Union a pretext to intensify the Cold War" the suggestion that strategic rockets should be placed in Scandinavia- The authors of the editorial, ignoring the fact that North America will soon be in the front-line itself as a result of the Soviet development of the ICBM, and blinding themselves to the fact that to have effective massive retaliation at hand to match a Soviet attack, NATO rocket bases must be in Europe, revert to an argument which has been seen on previous occasions, i.e., that if small countries are to trust rockets which can only be used in an alldestructive major war, than we are back in the hazardous days before NATO when "the Soviet Union could force anything through because the freedom of a small country is not worth a great price". 5. Other papers, such as Politiken (Radical) of December 6, took a much calmer view, but, nevertheless, came up with the conclusion that if NATO is not an agressive pact, it would be quite contrary to the desire of most Danes if Danish defences were supplemented by weapons that are not intended solely for defence. • • ^000709 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information - 3 - SECRET 6. The visit to Copenhagen on December 9 of Erich Olienhauer, leader of the West German Social Democratic Party, was hailed in the local press as an attempt to create greater understanding in Scandinavian countries for the arguments put forth by West German Social Democrats against the arming of West Germany with atomic artillery and rocket bases. Today's edition of Politiken carries a news despatch from Bonn to the effect that Mr. Olienhauer gave a report of his discussions with the Danish Prime Minister to the Social Democratic Party group in the Federal Parliament at Bonn. Mr. Olienhauer is reported as having explained to Mr. H. C. Hansen in detail the West German Social-Democrats' new ninepoint programme for the establishment of a European zone free of atomic weapons, and for negotiations between the i/estern powers and the Soviet Union for the withdrawal of allied and,Soviet troops from Germany andEastern Europe. Mr. Olienhauer is also quoted as stating that both the Danish and Norwegian Governments would maintain their refusal to accept atomic arms and long distance rocket bases in their territories. According to the report, Mr. Hansen had assured Mr. Olienhauer of this without reservation, and had also outlined to him the programme to be advanced by the Danish NATO Delegation at Paris on December 16. As we already know, the Danish view is that the Paris Conference should not concern itself solely with military questions. 7. Bersen (Commercial) of today's date announces that at the NATO Ministerial Council meeting next week, the Prime Minister will extend an invitation for the ordinary Ministerial meeting to be held in Denmark in the spring - probably in May. 8. Information of December 8 has once again started to view the/defence scene in a more rational manner and turned its attention to the Danish Navy. Surprisingly enough,' when dealing v/ith the possibility of an atomic attack, it advocated the strengthening of confidence between the Danish and West German Baltic Fleets. In advocating a disbursement of naval units from Copenhagen, Kerser, and Frederikshavn to a large number of small harbours, it demanded that units of the German Baltic Fleet must also have access to these harbours. 9. We have reported in the past on statements made by Danish military leaders which were in exposition to Government policy and which did not have governmental sanction. Major General Erik Kragh, Chief of Eastern Command, in analysing the immediate military-political situation prior to the NATO meeting, gave a press interview which was recorded in Beriingske Tidende (Conservative) of December 10. Unlike the other Danish military leaders who have spoken openly in recent weeks, he did not offer any opposition to the policy maintained by the Government. In his view it is not Denmark's job to participate in strategic air wars, but to contribute to the immediate local defence of Western Europe. R: E. R E Y N O L D S '\ I^-N ^^-^mbassador. 000710 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDNW02310 Title A name given to the resource Copenhagen to External D-651 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 11-Dec-57 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived �NATO - Stockpiling of atomic weapons in NATO countries,� RG25-A-3-b, vol. 5958, 50219-AL-1-40, pt. 1.2, Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Department of External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource atomic cooperation, NATO, nuclear weapons, Europe Description An account of the resource Stationing of Nuclear Weapons and Intermediate Rockets in Denmark Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en