Evening star., 1950-08-19
Council Talks Reveal
Alarming Indecision
On Red Peril in Europe
Assembly in Strusbourg
Admits 1t Is Humstrune
By Non Existent Defense
By Dorothy Thompson

Strasbourg, this month. revealed
a picture of alarming indecision,
despite the transcendental peril
that confrontS Europe. The con-
sultative assembly for the Council
of Europe, formed to prepare an
all European political system, had
to confess itself completely ham
strung by the committee of min
listers representing the European
governments themselves, an d
holding a veto. .....
Robert Boothby. leading British
fighter for a supranational Euro
pean defense system against the
integrated military forces of Rus
Sia and her European satellites,
announced that in the last IL
months nothing had been accom-
pliShed except reports to the Eu-
ropean governments, which, ap-
parently, they had not even read.
European defenSes are nom
existent" he declared.
With attention concentrated on
Korea the fact that divided Eu-
rope is as vulnerable as the divid-
ed Korean peninsula falls into
secondary interest. The notion
that Russia will not, now or soon.
precipitate a general war by an
attack in the West recalls the SIM
liar optimism toward Hitler that
prevailed in the spring of 1899, in
the face of all the evidence. and
that continued through the So
called phony war.
Arming at FeveriSh Pace.
RuSsias East European Satel-
lites. including the East Germans.
are enlarging their armies and
defense industries at feveriSh
pace.
This column has already re-
ported on the reorganization OF
the Polish Army, which puts 45O,-
900 men, or some % divisions, un-
der arms, and on the tranSforma-
ton of the whole Polish economy
to military purposes. The Polish
development is universal in East
Europe. Bulgaria, with $4,000
man air force and 200 front-line
planes, can marshal, in additioA,
10 infantry divisions; Hungary
and Romania at least II; Czecho-
slovakia probably eight; while
East Germany is building force
of six to eight.
These conservative figures indi-
cate So to 60 European satellite
divisions without the vast Russian
reserve, facing no more than II
undermanned and underequipped
divisions in Western Europe, in
cluding the Americans. Yu g o.
slavia, with 80 divisions, plays q
cagey role. Her forces are not
integrated in any Western defense
plan and are largely equipped with
Russian and Czech weapons
whose replacement parts, in case
of war, would have to be sup
piled by the enemy!
American correspondents nave
paid little attention to develop
ments in the Baltic Sea area,
where an American plane was shot
down some months ago. But ac-
cording to the uniquely watchful
and well-informed Die Zeit"
CHamburg). developments there
are significant and alarming. The
Baltic coast directly on the USSR
has been cleared of all unneces-
sary working personnel to depth
of some IS miles, and from Pet
samo CArctic porD to Lubbock, in
Northern Germany, the entire
coast, more than 800 miles long,
is one uniform centralized Soviet
security zone, guarded by specially
trained security police and pa
trolled by aircraft day and night.
In Peenemunde, where Hitler
developed his V-weapons. Soviet
engineers are improving the Ger
man models with the aid OF Ger
man technicians. Kolberg, in the
Polish zone, has a similar expert
mental station. Submarine bunk
ers and torpedo nets are under
construction in Memel, and the
fearsome German Schnorkel sub
marines in Warnemunde and Pol
ish Stettin. Swinemunde Ger
man East seaporD is the head
quarters of rapidly expanding
feet, including a battleship, five
cruisers. 20 torpedo chasers, and
$50 submarines. In Leningrad
three new cruisers are under con-
struction and the two German
cruisers. Lutzow and Seydlitz, are
being reconditioned. German lin
ers in Rostock are being rebuilt
as transport ships and, in the
Finnish Sea. Porkkala and Vii
puri formerly FinniSh) and Rus
sian Kronstadt and Leningrad
are being extended as fleet sta
tionS.
Claim to the Baltic.
These activities directly menace
Denmark. Sweden, and interna-
tional privileges in the area. The
claim to the Baltic as Russian
lake-recalling Mussolini's Mare
Nostrum" claim to the Mediter-
ranean was recently advanced
by Russian jurist in "Staat Und
Recht," German East Zone pub
lication, who clearly revealed Rus
sian intentions to establish the
same monopoly of the eastern
seas that Russia already has over
the Danube and the Black Sea
which despite the Montreux in
ternational convention is effec-
lively under Soviet blockade from
Russian, Romanian, and Bulgar-
ian ports.
Such frantic defensive measures
on land and sea preSuppoSe either
that the SovietS anticipate an i'm
minent attack from Western Eu-
rope, which the balance of forces
makes prepoSterous, or that they
are readying to attack themselves,
directly or through satellites and