STAFF NOTES: WESTERN EUROPE CANADA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000500030015-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 6, 2008
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: December 8, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

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Secret
16j)lUIFF HOCTE
Western Europe
Canada
International Organizations
NWC task force reviewed, document not relevant Nazi
War Crimes Disclosure Act.
State Dept. review
completed
Secret
No. 0317-75
December 8, 1975
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WESTERN EUROPE - CANADA - INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com-
munity by the Western Europe Division, Office of Current Intelligence, with
occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of
Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to
the authors of the individual articles.
Police Crackdown in Spain Plays Into Hands
of Communists and Ultra-Rightists . . . . . . . 1
UK Still Plans Import Controls. . . . . . . . . . 3
Portuguese Party Eases Stand on Communists
in Government
Nazi Hunter Drops Charges Against
Austrian Chancellor 7
French Government Continues Moves Against.
Military Unionizers . . . . . . . . . .
Iceland to Raise Fisheries Dispute at
NATO Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Italian Communists Concerned Over
Socialist Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
December 8, 1975
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Police Crackdown in Spain Plays Into Hands of
Communists and Ultra-Rightists
Ttia police crackdown on opposition demonstrations
over tie weekend will strengthen the hand of those who
seek to discredit King Juan Carlos' attempts to open
up the Spanish political system.
The Spanish Communist Party, which appear:., to have
taken the lead in organizing the demonstrations, will
claim that the use of force and the arrests show that
nothing has changed in Spain. The far right will point
to the violence as an example of the dangers of liberali-
zation and call for further government crackdowns. The
main losers are the forces in the middle--liberal-minded
members of the establishment and the non-Communist
opposition who favor gradual liberalization of the
regime.
PoLice used strong measures yesterday Lo disperse
some 4,Q00-5,000 demonstrators gathering near Madrid's
Carabanchel prison to demand total amnesty for the
many political prisoners not freed by the 'sing's recent
limited pardon. Some 200 persons reportedly were seized,
but more than 100 were released.
Among those arrested was the Communist labor leader
Marcelino Camacho, who was freed a week ago under terms
of the King's pardon. Although Camacho c.id not take
part in the demonstration, the police contend that he
was involved in planning it. They say he recently
incited Madrid University students to join in the
demonstration and yesterday gave instructions and
coordinated activities of the groups trying to demon-
strate.
December 8, 1975
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Camacho has, in fact, been inviting rearrest--
probably at the behest of the Communist Party. Shortly
after his release he gave defiant press conferences
strongly attacking the government and Juan Carlos and
for the past week he has harangued various protest
meetings. Nevertheless, his rearrest will doubtless
reactivate West European leftists' protests against
the Spanish regime.
The police also broke up a demonstration of
several hundred persons--including Camacho--who
gathered on Friday at a Madrid railway station to
welcome home a dissident priest, Father Francisco
Garcia Salve, who had also been released from jail
by the King's pardon.
The priest and 26 other persons were arrested.
The-police charge that this demonstration also was
planned by Communists. The rearrest of Father Garcia
Salve is likely to cause some discomfort to the Church
which has Of late been outspoken in its support of
liberalizing the regime.
The Communist-dominated Democratic Junta on
Saturday called for a week of "national democratic
action," beginning Wednesday, to protest the King's
decision to retain Prime Minister Arias. A junta
spokesman admitted that the other main opposition
coalition, the Socialist-led Platform of Democratic
Convergence, had decided against endorsing the appeal,
although some of its members may join in.
The demonstrations will arouse concern on the
right and make it more difficult for Arias to bring
men favoring political liberalization into the new
cabinet he is forming.
December 8, 1975
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UK Still Plans Import Controls
The British government will apparently
go ahead with plans for selective import controls.
The final decision on the extent of the controls
may have been held up, however, because of negative
international reactions.
Michael Foot, secretary of state for employment
in the Labor government, told Western diplomats
recently that he supports the import controls,
and that the government will probably announce
them before the end of the month.
Foot indicated that selective controls
would be part of a "Christmas package" of measures
intended to increase employment. The package
will probably include subsidies designed to
create new jobs for young workers, and retraining
,chemes.
Although unemployment is not expected to
peak until next year, the government may believe
that the package would in part offset the end
of Chrysler's operations in the UK. Foot declined
to comment on the status of negotiations with
Chrysler, but did say that a complete shutdown
would affect the jobs, directly or indirectly,
of 50,000 workers.
December 8, 1975
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Foot said ,-hat the government had warned
the West Europeans of thy possibility of controls,
and expec,:ed no hostile reaction from that quarter.
Several Common Market countries--West Germany,
most )recently--have, however, told the British
that they oppose selective controls. The subject
was not on the agenda of the EC summit meeting
in Rome, but it may have been discussed informally.
Foot justifies his support of import controls
on the grounds that they are necessary to save
jobs and retain vital trade union support for
the Wilson government. He believes that the
most difficult periods for the government will
be when unemployment peaks and during next summer,
when the unions decide how to react to the second
phase of Wilson's anti-inflation program.
December 8, 1975
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Portuguese Party Eases Stand on Communists in Government
Portugal's centrist Popular Democratic Party has
dropped its inflexible stand against Communist partici-
pation in the government, averting a showdown over the
issue.
At a national congress held over the weekend,
Popular Democratic delegates voted to allow the party
to continue to participate with the Communists in the
present government under certain conditions.
Many of the conditions either have already been
met or could be met by the government without extreme
difficulty.
Popular Democratic leaders, after extensive
debate, backed away from a conflict with the Antunes
faction and the Socialists over the Communist issue.
The final resolution may have been a compromise to
avoid splitting the conservative and leftist wings of
the party. Party Secretary General Francisco Sa
Carneiro had been calling for the ouster of the
Communists for weeks because of their efforts to under-
mine the government.
Such calls intensified in the wake of the November
25-26 military rebellion, which bosh the Popular
Democrats and the Socialists blamed on the Communists.
Communist Party leader Alvaro Cunhal, meanwhile,
told 20,000 supporters in Lisbon yesterday that the
party had not withdrawn from the government because
that would only strengthen the right. He said a new
threat from the right must now be overcome by changing
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the policies of the Socialists and the ruling faction
in the Armed Forces Movement.
Cunhal told the Communist rally--the first since
the rebellion--that the rebellion had been "disastrous,"
and he placed the blame on the far left. He said a
blcody rout of the workers had been narrowly avoided
when the Communist Party failed to support the uprising.
December 8, 1975
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Nazi Hunter Drops Charges Against Austrian
Chancellor
Jewish Documentation Center chief Simon Wiesenthal
dropped his slander charge against Chancellor Bruno
Kreisky last week, presumably because the case might
have been tried by a parliamentary committee rather
than a court of law.
The judicial group that was to meet this week to
decide whether Kreisky's immunity would be lifted so
that he could engage in a civil litigation, had been
expected to rule against such action. The alternative,
which had been suggested by Kreisky, was to have the
dispute aired by a parliamentary committee. Since
the government has an absolute majority, the chances
were slim that Wiesenthal would have won his argument
against the Chancellor in such a Forum.
Friedrich Peter, chairman of the Austrian Liberal
Party, will, however, press his slander suit against
Wiesenthal. It was Kreisky's defense of Peter--
accused of participation in atrocities committed by
an SS unit in which he was a member--that started the
whole affair. Although Peter still seems confident that
he can prove his innocence, the continuing publicity
reflecting his association with the SS will be damaging.
Nevertheless, Peter won the endorsement of his party's
executive board and will enter court with its full
support.
Peter also will press suits against two newspaper
editors who published the accusations made by
Wiesenthal. Chancellor Kreisky, still supporting
Peter, also will sue a magazine for its coverage of
the story. The four suits were filed in the Vienna
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court last week, but none of the principals was pres-
ent. Wiesenthal's decision the day before to drop his
charges against Kreisky probably caused some confusion
among the litigants. Peter still could have second
thoughts and, like Wiesenthal, eventually back away
from further publicity over the issue.
The only real casualty so far is right-winger Otto
Scrinzi, one of Peter's deputies. Scrinzi had earlier
given an interview to an Austrian magazine in which
he indicated that Peter might resign as party chair-
man to best serve the party's interests. Peter up-- 25X1
braided Scrinzi before the executive board for the inter-
view and the board stripped Scririzi of all party posts,
leaving him only his seat in parliament.
December 8, 1975
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French Government Continues Moves Against
Military Unicnizers
The French government has now arrested a total
of 25 soldiers and civilians for trying to organize
unions in army units and has been searching leftist
labor union offices in several areas.
Defense Minister Bourges reportedly told a
French journalist that extreme leftists, who were
trained before they were drafted, had been aided by
leftist union members in encouraging unionization
of units equipped with "very sophisticated equipment."
Bourges said the government believes the activity
was designed not only to disrupt army discipline,
but also to establish an espionage and sabotage
network. He mentioned in this context the presumed
connection 'o Soviet espionage services of a network
un^overed in France last spring and the appearance
in France last month of leftwing Portuguese military
elements.
The Defense Minister said there is a separate,
but related political aspect to the affair. He said
President Giscard ordered Prime Minister Chirac to
denounce the Socialists for their alleged involvement
in the activity in the army. Two of the first group
of those arrested were Socialists, but they were in
the process of being expelled from the party when
caught distributing pamphlets to soldiers. According
to Bourges, Giscard was concerned about the negative
international image of an army in disarray and of the
French electorate disunited over the issue of a
draftee army. The president, who has been trying to
drum up public support for the military, wanted a
show of national unity and anticipated that an attack
on the Socialists would provoke them into demonstrations
of their patriotism and support of the military.
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Giscard's effort to use tre issue to drum up
patriotic support is unlikely to be very effective,
but the left will not gain much from it either. The
Socialists did proclaim their support of military
discipline, but their calls for reform of military
life drew wide sympathy. The Communist Party also
took a moderate stand and expressed opposition to
military unions.
Interior Minister Poniatowski--may have lost the most
in the affair. Chirac's attack on the Socialists
was so heavy handed that many media commentators
criticized him for over-reacting. The image of a
ham-fisted government response was reinforced when
Poniatowski accused the Communists of inciting French
draftees to learn to shoot so they could attack their
commanders someday. While some radical leftist splinter
groups have in fact taken that line, the Communist
Party responded that Poniatowski, who has taken on
the Communists before, is himself a "menace to the
nation."
Prime Minister Chirac and
Only about 50,000 marchers showed up for a rally
in Paris on December 6 called by the left to protest
alleged government moves restricting civil liberties
in the army. The rally slogans steered clear of the
controversy over unionization, however, possibly
because the Communists and Socialists, whose alliance
has grown weaker over the last year, could not agree
on a common approach. The marchers concentrated
instead on calls for the removal of Poniatowski.
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Iceland to Raise Fisheries Dispute at NATO
Meeting
Iceland intends to raise its fishing dispute
with the UK at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting
in Brussels later this week. The cabinet, at the
same Lime, decided to defer raising the issue at the
UN General Assembly, pending the outcome of the
NATO meeting.
Prime Minister Hallgrimsson told the US ambas-
sador on December 5 that the opportunity to air
Iceland's grievances had been "the only real argument"
deflecting pressures in the cabinet earlier last week
to boycott the Brussels meeting.
Hallgrimsson did not indicate what steps by NATO
would satisfy the Icely ndic government. The ambas-
sador gained the impression, however, that Hallgrimsson
would settle for expressions of concern by the other
foreign ministers over the dispute between the two
alliance partners, and Secretary General Luns' offer
to mediate.
Icelandic officials point out the government is
under domestic pressure to take its case to the UN.
Although deferring an approach to the General Assembly,
Hallgrimsson said Reykjavik is contemplating sending
"some sort of communication" to the Security Council.
He did not indicate whether this would occur before
the NATO meeting.
The cabinet's decision to defer action in the
General Assembly is contingent upon there being no
escalation in the cod war. On December 5, a British
tug rammed an Icelandic coast guard patrol, the first
such incident in the current dispute. Although this
incident will increase tension in Iceland once it is
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publicized, the absence of bodily injury should
enable government leaders to hold the line on their
current strategy.
In London, a foreign office official expressed
hope that Foreign Secretary Callaghan would be able
to agree with Foreign Minister Agustsson in Brussels
to reopen the negotiations on a fishing agreement
that broke off last month. He said that Britain
is willing to withdraw its frigates from Icelandic
waters if Reykjavik refrains from harassing British
trawlers during negotiations. Iceland has adamantly
rejected this offer from tree beginning of the dispute.
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Italian Communists Concerned Over Socialist Actions
The Italian Communist Party is working behind
the scenes to avoid the possibility of a government
crisis in an effort to gain more time to-consolidate
the sharp gains the Communists scored in elections
last June. Party leaders fear that a government
crisis now would lead to early parliamentary elections
in which the central issue would be the question of
Communist participation in the government.
The Communists are concerned in particular by
pressures for a change of government that have begun
to surface in the Socialist Party, whose parliamentary
support is essential to the survival of the Moro
De Martino is on record against withdrawing
support for Moro at this time, but the Communists
fear that hb will yield to increasing pressure from
advocates of such a move within his party. Many
Socialists see Moro's government as discredited with
the left and fear that the party's association with
it will hurt Socialist chances in the next elections.
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The Socialists, moreover, do not hold posts in
Moro's cabinet, but are committed to support it in
parliament--an arrangement that gives them none of
the advantages of government membership while de-
priving them of the freedom enjoyed by the Communists
to criticize as an opposition party.
The growing tensions between the Communists and
the Socialists are attributable in large part to the
resentment of the latter over being left in an exposed
position while the Communists maneuver behind the
scenes to keep the government in place. In the view
of some Socialists, the longer this is allowed to
continue the harder it will be for their party to
compete with the Communists in the next elections.
De Martino appears to have enough support to
resist pressures from within his party to ease the
Socialists' dilemma through an immediate government
crisis. But the growing differences among Socialists
will probably frustrate De Martino's ambition to
emerge from the Socialist congress in February as
the leader of a united party. The divisiveness in
Socialist ranks will also make it more difficult for
De Martino to continue support for Moro after the
congress.
December 8, 1975
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