57 Memorandum from Blakeney1 to Rowland
Bonn, 30 December 1963
Secret
Nuclear Weapons: Switzerland and Sweden
I understand that, in signing the Test Ban Treaty,2 Switzerland and Sweden refused to bind themselves not to produce nuclear weapons.
- The Canadian Ambassador has recently given me further information on the position of both. 1. He has been told by a high-ranking German Army officer that the Swiss were well advanced on a nuclear programme which would involve production of tactical nuclear weapons for the Swiss armed forces. 2. He has been told by the Swedish Ambassador here that the Swedish programme relating to peaceful uses of nuclear energy will require, in about two years time, basic decisions about nuclear weapons production; that, unless some international agreement is reached on initial steps of disarmament and on non-proliferation before then, the Swedish Government will hardly be able to escape the decision to develop its own nuclear capacity (presumably tactical nuclear weapons); and that Sweden currently has the know-how and the financial and material resources to produce such weapons.
- The Canadian Ambassador has reported this information to Ottawa on a Canadian Eyes Only basis to protect his informant in 2(a) above. Please take appropriate measures to protect the Canadian Ambassador.
[NAA: A1838, 919/12/7 part 1]
- 1 F.J. Blakeney, Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.
- 2 The ‘Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water’, known as the Test Ban Treaty, was signed in Moscow on 5 August 1963.