UN General Assembly
1981

83. Europe is fortunate to have been free from war for 36 years, but it is the area where the tension between East and West is felt most strongly. It contains the greatest concentration of military forces in the world. Community members recognize the need to lessen tension by maintaining a dialog between East and West. Efforts must be intensified to reduce the appallingly high level of armaments on both sides, while maintaining undiminished security for all States. 84. Many of the hopes that we entertained for concrete measures of arms control and disarmament as we entered the 1970's have been cruelly disappointed. Nevertheless, the members of the European Community believe that there can be no substitute for painstaking negotiation resulting in agreements which tackle specific problems of arms control in a way which increases confidence and assures the security of all States.