Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

HGP Vol XX Special Number

1968 No 2- 147 -(07928)

in the Security Council} added. Merging the two., in January, 1952, the ^ Committee on Die«mament was createe within which a smaller sub-committee was formed (Prance, Canada, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the UoS.A,),These negotiations ended in 1957, In 1958, two international conferences of experts were at work: an eight-power conference on the possibility of working out toclmioal controls for an agreement Banning experiments with nuclear weapons, and a ten-power confer cnee on the ways and means of preventing an unexpected nuclear attack. It was in this year that the negotiations of the three-power conference on the use of atomic energy also began, These negotiations lasted until 19620 In November, 1958, the UNO Assembly decided on the creation of a disarmament committee the membership of which includes all the member states of the world organization* Yet the essent id disarmament negotiations were resumed only in that ten—member disarmament committee which had been called into being in terms of the 1959 conference of foreign minist er é, its work being, in principle, independent form the comprehensive disarmament committee of the UNO, but having the approval cf and iraintaining contact with the UNO Assembly, The sessions of this committee were adjourned in the sun>* mer of 1960, In the meantime, the Soviet Union and the U.S-A, had elaborated the principles of disarmament and agreed on the creation of a 18-power disarmament committee (5 eastern, 5 western states and 8 non-ccmmitted states). The committee, with 17 members only, because of France's absence, first met on the 14th or March, 1962, Its relation to the UNO was similar to the former position of the ten-power committee. After several adjournments , this committee is even today probably the oentral place of disarmament negotiations, although the bilateral and multilateral negotiations between states play a very important role and the Disarmament Committee including all the member states of the UNO still exists?-1-18)

The disarmament negotiations of the past twenty-two years have made a many-sided approach to the problem and clarified many principles and proposed methods of practical policy. The detailed treatment of the themes, events and positions taken would go beyond the scope of this-Contribution? We must limit ourselves to the efforts of formulating a number of lessons and, on the other hand, of pointing to the most actual questions.

In the relation of both, our admitted purpose is to show the positive aspects of the development, the results achieved and possibilities explored, As it is known, the disarnament negotiations have so far failed to achieve the complete solution of the problem. The stage until 1959 was particularly ineffective. But we cannot say that the disarmament negotiations have so far proved useless and fruitless and hence give little hope as to positive developments in the future. Such a view would, in the first place, objectively contradict the fact, while, on the other hand, would constitute a strong subjective obstacle in tánc way of present and future exertions. Undoubtedly, even after twenty-two years, disarmament hats remained an unaccomplished task, but this very fact should spurn us to moke intensified efx orts for seeking certain lessons, ascertaining results ard exploring further possibilities.