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Reference
EAD
Mr Turner,
Stone, HKD
Mr Sinton, MCADA
Mr Burrows, NAD
Mr Warren-Gash, SED
Mr Penfold, WIAD
la
DEMOS4/911
འ་
ISTRY
RECEIVE
29 MAR 1990
"STRY
shion Taleh
27
OPEN SKIES: AREA OF APPLICATION
1. In May 1989 President Bush proposed an Open Skies regime under which aircraft of the participating states could overfly the whole of each other's territory. The first (Ottawa) phase of negotiations between the 23 states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact was held in February; the second and, it is hoped, final phase will take place in Budapest 23 April - 12 May.
2.
The Alliance states wish to declare all "territory of the participants in North America, Europe and Asia" open to overflight, in order to persuade the WTO to do likewise. The Soviet Union may seek to exploit problem areas for the western side, for example, they are demanding the right to overfly participants' bases in third (non-signatory) countries. France is
France is unwilling to have St Pierre and Miquelon overflown; Spain is hesitant over Alboran and Melilla. For the UK several possessions are well "out of area" such as the Falkland Islands or Ascension Island. The following, however, are among those that could be subject to overflight:
a. Diego Garcia
b.
C.
H D P Q σ w
d.
e.
E.
Hong Kong
Belize
Bermuda
Gibraltar
Cyprus SBAS
HKC031/10
RECEIVED IN REDISTRY
1 1 MAY 1990
3. The UK will seek to exclude Hong Kong; it is not British for many more years and the Soviets may not wish to pick a dispute with China over airspace. We have asked the US to confirm, as they indicated in Ottawa, that they have no problem with Diego Garcia. The Spanish would probably react neuralgically to explicit mention of Gibraltar as UK territory in a treaty. In the case of Cyprus, the Soviets could ask to photograph the SBAs from a helicopter under the CDE Stockholm agreement should the Cyprus government raise objections under Open Skies.
4.
Legal Department have proposed a solution to the difficulty of territorial definition; a copy of their minute of 16 March is attached. Would you please consider
Mr MacLeqd's comments and let me know by 30 March whether
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