On 29 June 1971, a note from the Directorate for Political Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry examines the question of mutual and balanced force reductions in Central Europe and explains in detail why France is opposed to this plan. As long as détente in Europe has not been consolidated, the French Government sees the demilitarisation of a zone between East and West as a potential source of conflict. Such an enterprise would inevitably lead to a reduction in the military potential of the European states, while the forces of the USSR and the United States would simply be moved from one place to another, thereby widening the gap between Europe and the two superpowers and lessening Europe’s chances of becoming truly independent in the future.