Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-23
EDC in Extremis

Brussels Conference, the Kremlin has rea-
son to rejoice today. For the projected
six-nation European Defense Community
now appears to be so close to dying that
something like a laSt-minute miracle will
be needed to keep it alive. And the pos
sibility of such miracle looks to be remote
in the extreme.
The primary responsibility for this dis
mai and potentially disastrous turn of
events can be readily fixed: Although they
themselves originated the undertaking, the
French have failed to live up to the gran
deur of their own viSion-a vision which, If
acted upon affirmatively, would establish
a supernatural free Europe in which they
would merge substantial part Of their
sovereignty with that of Luxembourg, The
Netherlands Belgium, Italy and West Ger
many. This merger, in turn, besides
coalescing the six countries in Single in
ternationalized army for mutual defense
against the threat of Red aggression, would
carry them far along the road toward an
actual political and economic union that
would be vastly beneficial to all Of them.
However, despite having authored this
revolutionary proposal, and despite having
signed the treaty to effectuate it, the
French have lacked the will and courage
to go through with it by ratifying it as it
has already been ratified by Luxembourg,
The Netherlands Belgium and West Ger
many. Instead, they have hesitated and
backtracked for more than two years past,
and they have done so for a number of
mixed-up reasons, including their genuine
fear of resurgent German militarism, the
reluctance of many of them to surrender
any OF their sovereignty, and the irreSolu-
ton, the partisanship and in numerous
cases the pusillanimity of large segments
of their Parhanent-not to mention the
Kremlin- serving tactics of the Communist
members. It is against this background
that Premier Mendes-France, as his coun-
try's price for edo ratification, has insisted
at Brussels upon watering down the whole
project so drastically that the five other
Signatories have had no choice but to re-
ject most of his notifications.
So EDO thus seems to be at deaths
door. True, West German Chancellor Ad-
enauer, after talking with MIR. Mendes-
France, has voiced confidence that the
French National ASsembly-when it votes
on the issue next week-will vote for rati-
f1cation. Conceivably he may be right, and
one must hope that he is right, but it is
difficult to see at the moment anything
that supports his optimism. Actually, if
spokesman for our State Department have
not exaggerated the matter, the failure at
Brussels has created situation of great
gravity" At very least it appears to bring
nearer the day when the United States will
have to undertake what Secretary Dulles
has called an "agonizing reappraisal" of its
European policy.
Further, barring the possibility of
miraculous affirmative vote by the French
Parliament, the dissolution Of the EDO
dream will require measures to rearm West
Germany unilaterally within the frame
work of the North Atlantic Treaty Organ
ization. And such measures, if France ex-
ercises it's power to veto them, can rock the
Atlantic alliance to its foundations All
things considered, therefore, although some
eleventh. hour salvaging job is still conceiv-
able, this looks like bright day for the
Kremlin.