Message to the Opening Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels.

THE MEETING of the North Atlantic Alliance will be one of the most important conferences in the history of the Alliance. This past year has witnessed the completion of a comprehensive review of Alliance defense that can serve as the basis for a common effort throughout this decade. This review testifies to the continuing value of candid consultations based on mutual respect and to the common recognition that the prospects for peace rest primarily on our ability and willingness to maintain an Alliance sufficiently strong to deter those who might threaten war.

After the most searching consultations, together we have arrived at several fundamental conclusions which will help us maintain NATO's strength while the Alliance seeks to translate the promise of detente into the reality of a just and lasting peace.

--We have reaffirmed flexibility of response as the proper strategy for a defensive Alliance confronted by a formidable mix of potentially hostile force, which is constantly improving.

--We have agreed that NATO's conventional forces must not only be maintained, but in certain key areas strengthened. Given a similar approach by our Allies, the United States will maintain and improve its own forces in Europe and will not reduce them unless there is reciprocal action from our adversaries. We will continue to talk with our NATO Allies with regard to how we can meet our responsibilities together.

--The Allies have agreed to move to transform the recommendations of the study into fact. This should provide NATO with an enhanced capability sufficient to make the strategy of flexible response a more credible factor in the equation of deterrence.

In the process of this review we were heartened by the efforts of several of the Alliance's members to create a new and more equitable sharing of the burdens of the Alliance through a greater effort by our Allies to meet the challenges of NATO defense in the decade of the Seventies. This European initiative gives concrete testimony to the vitality and spirit of the European Allies. NATO has strong support among the American people. Successful efforts to improve European forces and absorb a greater share of the burden will insure continued support.

I welcome the achievements of the Alliance. I am certain we can move from agreed goals to practical action with the same seriousness of purpose.

RICHARD NIXON