UNCLASSIFIED 

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i. 
September 4, 1968 Declaration of the Defense Planning Committee of NATO 
"The Defense Planning Committee of NATO, recognizing that developments in Czechoslovakia cannot fail to be of grave concern, has initiated a thorough assessment of their implications for allied defense policy, parti­cularly for force postures. When this assessment has been completed, it will be submitted to ministers • 
. . Meanwhile, the Defense Planning Committee has recalled the position taken by Defense Ministers on 10th May, 1968 in Brussels, subsequently reaffirmed by Foreign Ministers at R~ykjavik on 24th and 25th June, 1968 to the effect that the Alliance must · maintain an effective military capability and must assure a balance of forces between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. At th~t time ministers also affirmed the proposition that the over-all military capability of NATO should not be reduced except as part of a pattern of mutual force reductions balanced in scope and timing. The Defense Planning Committee 
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has confirmed the validity of this position, and deplores the fact that the prospects for progress in the field of balanced mutual force reductions have suffered a severe setback. 
The members of the Defense Planning Committee have accordingly reaffirmed the necessity of maintaining NATO's military capability and of taking into account the implications of recent .developments in Eastern Europe in the planning of their national forc~s. The overall capability of NATO's forces, in~luding their structure and levels, will be kept under constan~ review in 
the light of the changing political and military circumstances, and will be re-examined at the next ministerial meeting." UNCLASSIFIED 
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