Legal Aspects Concerning the Installation of the First Nuclear Missiles on Belgian Soil

• Published in: Israel Law Review
• Main Author: De Visscher, Paul
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1985
• Subjects: Law; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021223700017581; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0021223700017581

During 1985, the Belgian political climate was suddenly disturbed by the announcement of the installation of 16 cruise missiles on the soil of the peaceful city of Florennes. In comparison with the world-wide concern about what the proliferation of intermediate range nuclear weapons means for world peace, the debate which took place in Belgium concerning 16 missiles could seem somewhat ridiculous. However, this debate appeared to us to represent a growing state of mind becoming widely felt in Western Europe, and it contains sufficient legal aspects to make it the object of this present article by which we join in honouring our eminent colleague and friend, Prof. Nathan Feinberg. On the 12th of December 1979, the North Atlantic Council unanimously adopted the “double decision”. On the one hand, this decision dealt with the installation of 572 nuclear missiles in Western Europe and, on the other, with the intensification of negotiations with the USSR, with the aim to reach agreement on the reduction of armaments.