XVI. Meeting of the PCC, Moscow, 22-23 November 1978
Editorial Note
By anticipating the end of détente, the PCC meeting moved toward precipitating it.
On the premise that the approaching nuclear equilibrium was not a sufficient guarantee of military stability, the Warsaw Pact approved measures to increase its warfighting capability in Europe. These included an increase of military expenditures to provide for special forces equipped with up-to-date military technology and the decision to finalize the long-planned statute specifying in advance the structure and prerogatives of the alliance's command in wartime. This supplemented the statute for peacetime adopted in 1969.
Brezhnev lamented that China had in effect become the West's ally, leading to NATO's economic and military collaboration with Beijing. He called for a reduction of imports from the West in order to avoid the Warsaw Pact's economic dependence on the enemy. He referred to the "sacred task" of not allowing any disruption of the equilibrium of military power and cited as an asset Western Europe's being more committed to détente than the United States was.
The lengthy PCC report calling for increased defense expenditures and modernization of conventional armaments was not signed by Romania, and elicited Ceauşescu's protest that its adoption was illegal. Romania opened a campaign for across-the-board cuts in defense expenditures and eventual abolition of both the Warsaw Pact and NATO. It subsequently publicized the disagreements that had occurred during the meeting and, in trying to distance itself from the alliance, consulted separately with Yugoslavia.
In a critical assessment of the PCC meeting at a secret Romanian politburo session, foreign minister Manea Mănescu described the PCC report as "an emanation of the Soviet militarist circles that pursue a policy of excessive armament by replacing the current weapons, involving the states participating in the Warsaw Treaty in a dangerous arms race and having them bear the cost of this adventurous way of acting."
Vojtech Mastny
