Reagan Vows Mix of Peace, Strength : Heckled by Leftists, He Warns Europe Parliament of Soviet Nuclear Buildup

President Reagan pledged Wednesday to work for stable, peaceful relations with the Soviet Union but warned that because of the Soviet nuclear weapons buildup, the United States and its Western allies must maintain a survivable nuclear capability.

Heckled repeatedly by leftist members as he addressed the 10-nation European Parliament on the 40th anniversary of V-E Day, the President portrayed the Soviet Union, America’s ally in World War II, as an aggressor that has developed first-strike nuclear capability “designed to disarm” the United States.

In the short run, he said, the United States has “no alternative” but to compete with the Soviets in expanding their nuclear arsenals, “not in the pursuit of superiority, but merely of balance.”

“It is thus essential,” he declared, “that the United States maintain a modern and survivable nuclear capability in each leg of the strategic triad--sea-, land- and air-based. It is similarly important that France and Britain maintain and modernize their independent capabilities.”

Four-Step Program

Reagan also urged greater efforts at arms control and proposed a new four-step program to ease tensions and manage potential crises between the superpowers. But that did nothing to quell the most intense protests he has confronted in his presidency.

The leftists jeered through most of his speech and waved signs attacking his Nicaragua policies and his Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) program for a space-based defense against nuclear missiles.

After about 30 leftist members of the Parliament walked out about two-thirds of the way through his speech, Reagan smiled and said, “You know, I’ve learned something useful. Maybe if I talk long enough in my own Congress, some of those will walk out.” The right side of the chamber erupted in applause.

More than one-third of the Parliament appeared to be joining in the protest. The 434-member Parliament, an arm of the European Community, lists 130 members as Socialists and 43 as Communists.

The protesters, seated to Reagan’s left in the circular chamber, greeted his entrance in stony silence as the more conservative members on his right gave him a standing ovation.

A faulty TelePrompTer and the heckling threw the President off stride several times during his 44-minute speech, which included a broad overview of U.S.-Soviet relations. But he plowed ahead, raising his voice over the shouts of the protesters and turning to a prepared text when the TelePrompTer failed. The conservatives responded with ringing applause, drowning out the protesters.

After arriving in Lisbon later Wednesday for a state visit to Portugal that will end his 10 days in Europe, Reagan told reporters that he thought the Parliament had given him “a very heartwarming reception.” He said he knew in advance that some of the members did not want him to make the speech but that he had decided to go ahead with it “because more wanted me to.”

Used to Hecklers

The President said he was used to dealing with hecklers and thought he had handled them all right.

Reagan’s aides insisted that the heckling was typical of the European Parliament and other European legislatures. But others noted that the heckling in European parliaments generally is directed at members, not at distinguished visitors.

During Reagan’s speech, protesting members held up signs saying:

“Hands Off Nicaragua,” “11 Former NATO Generals Say Space Weapons Lead To War,” and “Nuclear Freeze Now.” Several of the members wore red-and-green T-shirts emblazoned with peace symbols.

Reagan’s speech was immediately criticized by the Soviet Union as “bombastic” in a commentary carried by Tass, the official Soviet news agency. The analysis, by Tass military writer Vladimir Chernyshev, added that the President’s “peace initiatives” were “very modest and not at all new.”

Reagan engaged in “direct distortion” of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy, Tass said without being more specific. And it charged that Reagan’s conception of strategic nuclear balance means “the advantage on the American side.”

As for the President’s assertion that the Soviet Union has decided to build nuclear forces aimed at unleashing a first strike, the Tass writer said, “A greater absurdity is difficult to imagine.”

The commentator concluded: “By his statements and his practical deeds, the chief of the White House clearly shows that Washington’s ways of ‘lowering tension’ can carry the world into dangerous entanglements of ‘Star Wars,’ can lead it to nuclear catastrophe.”

Reagan aides, who had billed his speech as one of the most important of his presidency, had released notes of his main points to reporters for publication on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Potential Crises

But Reagan spelled out new details of one of his major proposals: A four-step U.S.-Soviet endeavor that is designed to help manage potential crises and prevent such episodes as the Soviets’ downing of a South Korean airliner in 1983 and the shooting death of an Army major by a Soviet sentry in East Germany last March.

Reagan proposed that the two nations:

--Regularly exchange military observers at military exercises and locations.

--Institute regular, high-level contacts between Soviet and American military leaders, to develop better understanding and to prevent tragedies from occurring.

--Agree to discuss the Soviet Union’s proposal for non-use of force in the context of “concrete confidence-building measures proposed by the NATO countries.”

--Establish a permanent military-to-military communications link for exchanging notifications and other information regarding routine military activities, thereby reducing the chances of misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

Reagan said that while the proposals are not “cure-alls” for current problems and would not compensate for deaths that have already occurred, “it would be tragic if we were to make no attempt to prevent even larger tragedies from occurring through lack of contacts and communications.”

New Soviet Missiles

The President warned--as his aides had announced earlier that he would--that the Soviets are moving toward deployment of new mobile missiles that have first-strike capability and the potential to avoid detection, monitoring, or arms-control verification.

“In doing this,” he said, “the Soviet Union is undermining stability and the basis for mutual deterrence.”

Reagan suggested that while the United States must keep pace with the Soviets in the nuclear weapons race, the long-range answer to an ever-escalating buildup could be his Strategic Defense Initiative program.

He emphasized that as the U.S. proceeds with the “Star Wars” research program, it will abide by existing arms treaty constraints and will “consult in the fullest possible fashion with our allies.”

“And when the time for decisions on the possible production and deployment of such systems comes,” he said, “we must and will discuss and negotiate these issues with the Soviet Union.”

His comments brought cries of “No Star Wars, No Star Wars,” from the left side of the Parliament chamber.

Several times, Reagan, who has often jousted with hecklers on the political campaign trail in the United States, appeared to relish playing off the hecklers’ comments.

Once, when the hecklers chanted, “Nicaragua, Nicaragua,” he smiled, paused and drew applause and laughter from conservatives when he asked, “Is there an echo in here?” And when he was booed for accusing the Soviets of stimulating conflict in Central America, he retorted, “They haven’t been there. I have.”

Looking over his audience, Reagan declared:

“I would like to just conclude with one line, if I could, and say we’ve seen evidence here of your faith in democracy and the ability of some to speak up freely, as they prefer to speak. And yet I can’t help but remind all of us that some who take advantage of that right of democracy seem unaware that if the government that they would advocate became reality, no one would have that freedom to speak up again.”

Times staff writer William J. Eaton, in Moscow, contributed to this story.