Soviet Response to the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)

Abstract

This article discusses the way the USSR reacted to the creation of the supranational European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The authors believe that the Soviet criticism of German and French nuclear programs was, at least, partially, objective and non-ideological. The study featured documents on Soviet foreign policy that described the initial reaction of the USSR to the Euratom plans, suggested alternative options for European cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, and showed the evolution of the Soviet approach to European integration. Western Europe and the United States had their own goals in the development of the peaceful nuclear industry in Europe. The fears expressed by the USSR were related to the membership of the Federal Republic of Germany in Euratom and the role the United States intended to assume in this organization. Eventually, Moscow accepted a more neutral position in relation to the Euratom and other integration processes in Western Europe.