PROROGATION SPEECH
CONFIDENTIAL
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons
The Duke of Edinburgh and I were pleased to receive the State
Visits of His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria and Mrs Babangida in May and His Highness the President
of the United Arab Emirates in July. We were pleased to receive
the visit in June of Her Majesty The Queen of the Netherlands and
His Royal Highness Prince Claus of the Netherlands to mark the
conclusion of the William and Mary Tercentenary. We were also
pleased to receive His Excellency the President of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics and Mrs Gorbachev in April, and the
President of the United States of America and Mrs Bush in June.
We recall with pleasure our visit to Barbados in March to mark
the 350th Anniversary of the House of Assembly there. We
remember with satisfaction our State Visits last month to
Singapore and Malaysia, where I was also present on the occasion
of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
My Government have continued to play an active role in the important improvement which has taken place in relations between
East and West. They played an active part in the negotiations
which led to the successful conclusion of the Vienna Review
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
My Government have welcomed and encouraged the significant and
liberalising changes which have taken place in Poland and
Hungary, and also those in the Soviet Union.
[My Government have continued to improve Britain's defences.
They have played a full part in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation, and have promoted British and Western security
interests outside the NATO area.]
SB3ABF
CONFIDENTIAL