On 12 December 1979, at a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) special meeting of Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers, a press communiqué is issued outlining the security threat posed by the Warsaw Pact military build-up and the recent deployment of the SS-20 missile. In order to maintain the credibility of its strategy of flexible response in light of the quantitative and qualitative improvements to Soviet long-range nuclear capability brought about by the modernisation and expansion of Soviet theatre nuclear forces (TNF), the Alliance decides to pursue two parallel and complementary approaches of TNF modernisation and arms control (known as the ‘Double-Track’ Decision on TNF). The Ministers decide to modernise NATO’s long-range theatre nuclear forces (LRTNF) by the deployment in Europe of US ground-launched systems comprising 108 Pershing II launchers. The communiqué also emphasises the need for negotiations on arms limitations regarding LRTNF in order to contribute to a more stable military relationship between East and West and advance the process of détente.