MADRID, Spain -- The United States accused the Soviet Union Friday of violating the Helsinki Accord by holding major war games around Poland without warning the West.
U.S. chief delegate Max Kampelman said the Warsaw Pact held military maneuvers last March-April and September, billing one war game a command staff exercise and neglecting the second time to disclose how many troops were involved.
Kampelman, in comments to reporters after his speech, said East-West relations had deteriorated during the three-month recess of the conference.
Kampelman listed the Soviet war games around Poland, the occupation of Afghanistan and repression of human rights inside the U.S.S.R. and said, 'In short, things are worse.'
He accused Moscow of 'a kind of defiance, an arrogance' over its Helsinki record, saying the situation had deteriorated in the 13 months of the Madrid meeting.
He warned 'the Helsinki spirit' could be broken if East and West did not reach a follow-up accord to the Helsinki Act before the end of the year.
Kampelman said the two East Bloc maneuvers -- SOYUZ 81 March 17-April 7 and ZAPAD-81 Sept. 4-12 -- were the first 'of the Warsaw Pact or the Soviet Union we label a violation of the Helsinki Act.'
Kampelman told the session that information on the war games 'was unduly vague and unrevealing, not at all consistent with the very purpose of the CBM (Confident Building Measure) concept, which is to build mutual confidence among states.'
East and West pledged under the 1975 agreement to announce troop movements of more than 25,000 men, giving details on the character and scope of planned exercises.
