I Foto-Btz 190144a JcvV' I O ' SECRET I have the honor to refer to Articles 20 and 21 of the Communiqué issued by the North Atlantic Council on December 19 1957 and to conversations which have taKen place between the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the Government of the ' Netnerlands and between tne Supreme Allied Commander Europe and tne Government of the United States regarding the stockpiling of atomic weapons in the Netherlands It is the understanding of my Government that in the course of these conversations agreement in principle was reached to the establishment in the Netherlands of elements of a stockpile of atomic weapons to be provided by the United States to meet the requirements of forces assigned to NATO Government In order to implement tnis Agreement in prin iple suggests the following arrangements my 1 The location of the stocks will be determined by SACEUR in accordance with approved NATO military plans and in agreement with the Netherlands and the United States military authorities or SACLANT 2 Except as otherwise agreed the costs of land procuremënt and of construction devebpment and maintenance of the storage sites and associated facilities including those required for the support of the United States special weapons custodial and support pe r-scnneL shall ba borne by the nation for the support of wnose forces tne storage sites are intended To the extent that tne North Atlantic Council 'ag ees tö the NATO infrastructure funding of NATO atomic stockpile construction costs including the cost of hose installations the apportionment of costs will be subject to NATO infrastructure procedures ' Installations and facilities for atomic weapons storage and maintenance will be provided and maintained in accordance with NATO standards and criteria Installations and facilities for normal loóistic support housing messing offices etc which may not be specified under NATO criteria wil1 be provided and maintained in a manner comparable to United States standards and as mutually agreed It is recognized that the custody of any stocks of atomi weapons provided by the United States will be the responsibility of the United States and that United States personnel will be assigned in the Netherlands for tnis purpose The provisions of the Agreement with Annex between the United States of America and the Kingdom of tne Netnerlands re1ating to stationing of United States forces in the Netherlands effected by an exchange of notes at The Hague August 13 1954 wil1 app1y e cept as superseded by tnis Agreement When the weapons are released by appropriate authority tE'ey will beemployed in accordance with procedures established by SACEUR or SACLANT Un1ted States forces wil 1 be responsible for the maintenance surveillance and assembly of the atomic weapons including tne provision of personnel and technical equipment for the performance of these functions -26 External security of all atomic weapons in storage or during movement in the Netherlands will be the responsibility of tne Netherlands The details of external security arrangemen t s will be determined by the appropriate Uni ted States and Netherlands military authorities in accordance with the directives of SACEUR or SACLANT 7 United States forces will be responsible for movement of the atomic weapons to point of exit for intra-theater redi stri bu tion of weapons as determine d Dy SAC r UR or SAC1A f T Netherlands forces will be responsiole for the transportation of weapons within the Netherlands subject always to the provisions of Article 3 above 8 A reliable means of signal communications will be provided by the Government of the Netherlands to meet the purposes of this Agreement To the extent that the orth Atlantic Council agrees to NATO infrastructure funding of such new communications facilities the app rtionment of costs will be subject to NATO infrastructure procedures 9 The Netherlands responsibilities cited in Articles 6 rand 8 will apply only to stockpile facilities made available to meet the requirements of Netherlands forces assi6ned to or earmarked for NATO 10 The Netherlands will in general provide at no expense tOthe United states Government administrative and logistical support for United States forces in support of Netherlands units such as common items of supply organic transportation and such other support including support for dependents as may be mutually agreed 11 Supplementary technical arrangements within the scope the Agreement to define specific responsibilities of the respective United States and Netherlands services pertaining to the various delivery systems and associated installations will be negotiated separately between the appropriate represent atives of the United States and of the Netherlands I propose that if the foregoing is acceptable to your Government this note and your reply indicating sucn as acceptance will constitute an Agreement between our two overnments on this subject the Agreement to enter iato force on the date of your note in reply SECRET DRA FT Excellency Referring date regarding atomic weapons propose to our exchange an agreement concerning in the Netherlands that in accordance 6 of para- be added to the states Government to station in the Netherlands the terms of the notes c ncerning of I have the honor to the following list of fQrces which the United exchanged the stockpi1ing with the provisions graph 3 of that agreement authorized of notes of tO-day's is in accordance with that subject which were at The Hague on August 13 1954 United Netherlands States Custodia1 in accordance of the notes regarding in the Netherlands Units stationed with the provisions the stockpiling exchanged in the of paragraph of atomic weapons at The Hague •••••••••••••• 1959 If the foregoing I have the honour Excellency's considered Governments proposal is acceptahle to you to suggest that tais note and Your reply thereto indicating as constituting concerning force as of to-day's an agreement this matter date acceptance shall be between our two whicn will come into 3 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu Read related article US Nuclear Weapons in the Netherlands A First Appraisal 2021-01-08