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We
it is only because, thanks to the prescience of the
Noble Lord, Lord Gladwyn, we had a full debate on the
subject last week, immediately after the meeting.
welcomes the Declaration which was made in Rome.
have no doubt that WEU has an important role in
European defence and will help strengthen the Alliance
which remains, and must remain the forum in which
decisions affecting the security of all the allies are
taken.
9.
Threats to peace and to our interests do not occur
Britain has particular defence
only in Europe.
responsibilities outside the NATO area. Apart from the
Falklands, to which I shall return later, we have made
contributions to peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and
Cyprus, to naval deployments and to minehunting
operations in the Red Sea.
We also provide military
countries. All this
assistance and training to
reflects Britain's widespread commitments and
responsibilities. But these efforts are also an
important contribution to the protection and promotion
of general Western interests throughout the world.
10. No foreign affairs debate in 1984 would be complete
without discussion of Community issues. That in itself
is an indication of how far our attitude to Europe has
developed in the last ten years, and of how central our
membership of the Community is to our foreign policy.
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