Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko delivered a strong attack today on the Camp David summit which he characterized as “a new anti-Arab step” and declared that peace in the Middle East could be established by reconvening the Geneva conference.
As he was delivering his speech before the General Assembly the 69-year-old diplomat took ill and was escorted from the podium to the chambers of the President of the Assembly. Doctors and nurses were rushed from the UN medical clinic where they administered first aid. About an hour later he returned and finished his speech.
Diplomats and observers here regarded his speech as relatively mild. He singled out Israel for attack only once, charging that “ten years after the aggression, its consequences still have not been eliminated. While the aggression itself goes unpunished, Israel continues to hold sway over the territories it has seized.”
He also attacked President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, without mentioning him by name. “Unfortunately, “Gromyko said, “even in the Arab world there are some politicians who display no concern for Arab lands and who are inclined to neglect the legitimate rights of the Arabs, notably the Palestinian Arabs, and to cringe and surrender to the demands of the aggressor and his patrons.”
Gromyko said his country is willing to participate in the most stringent international security guarantees for all states in the Middle East, but claimed that Israel rejects international guarantees. He argued that “with the existing means of warfare, the distance from the borders to which a neighboring state has withdrawn its guns is of little consequence,” an apparent reference to Israel’s claim for territory to secure its borders.
He reiterated the Soviet Union’s support for a national home for the Palestinian people “who are fully entitled to a national home, a state of their own”; charged that the Camp David agreements constitute “separate deals at the expense of the Arabs” that “have only sidetracked the solution of the problem”; and asserted that the accords constitute “a new anti-Arab step making it difficult to achieve a just solution of this pressing problem.” He insisted that the Geneva conference, which convened briefly in December, 1973 under the co-chairmanship of the U.S. and the USSR, was the only body specifically set up to achieve peace in the Middle East.
GERMANY’S VIEW OF THE ACCORDS
West Germany’s Foreign Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, addressing the General Assembly this afternoon on behalf of the nine member states of the European Economic Community (EEC), repeated that group’s support for the Camp David accords.
He observed, however, that it was imperative for a Middle East settlement “that all parties concerned should participate in its negotiation and completion.” He said that “no obstacle should be set up in the way of this process which should be kept open and should, through further developments and wider participation, lead to a comprehensive settlement.”
Genscher outlined the long-standing position of the nine EEC members on the Middle East which he said, was founded on four principles:
The inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force; the need for Israel to end the territorial occupation in effect since 1967; respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of each state in the area and the right of each to live in secure and recognized boundaries; and recognition that in the establishment of a just and lasting peace, “the legitimate rights of the Palestinians” must be taken into account. “It remains our firm view that all these aspects must be taken as a whole.” Genscher said.
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance will address the General Assembly Friday.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
