Alters U.S. Stance on Partners’ Defense Contributions : Allies Paying Enough, Reagan Says

Although George Bush and Michael S. Dukakis have both questioned whether the European allies are contributing enough to Western defense efforts, President Reagan says he believes the allies are pulling their weight and that their share of the defense burden should not be increased.

“There is a fair ratio there,” Reagan said in an interview with reporters from seven newspapers, including The Times.

When asked specifically whether Western Europe, Japan and Canada were contributing sufficiently to their defense, when compared to American military efforts, the President replied: “I believe that basically they are.”

At Odds With Bush

His position puts him at odds not only with Bush and Dukakis, the presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, but with such congressional leaders as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), who has frequently pressed Europe to pay for a greater share of the common military effort.

Also, Reagan’s assertion does not entirely square with the asserted policy of his own Administration.

Dukakis said Tuesday that the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should “bear a fair share of both the economic and military burdens”--a position that is similar to the Reagan Administration’s policy of urging the European members of the 16-nation alliance to increase their contributions.

Bush also has raised the issue of burden sharing, suggesting that “we must ensure that they carry their fair share of the load.”

One senior Administration official, told of the President’s remarks, said: “The line over here is we all need to do more and (that) the allies--Japan and Korea and the European allies--are doing a lot but they can do more.’

Allies Let ‘Off the Hook’

“He’s letting them off the hook,” the official said. “They’ll be awfully glad to hear that.”

The debate over U.S., Canadian and European contributions to the defense of Western Europe has been raging on and off for years, but it has taken on renewed urgency with the rising concern over the U.S. budget deficit and the movement in arms control that has accompanied the thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations, increasing the importance of conventional forces.

The U.S.-Soviet treaty to eliminate medium-range land-based nuclear weapons has put renewed pressure on the superpowers, along with their European allies, to negotiate a reduction in their conventional, or non-nuclear, forces. Pentagon officials have maintained that the Soviet bloc nations hold a significant advantage in tanks, mortars and other ground weapons.

The United States has deployed more than 300,000 troops in Western Europe and spends about 6.5% of its gross national product on defense, according to NATO. Britain contributes 4.8% of its gross product to defense, and other members spend a smaller percentage.

In the interview with Reagan, conducted in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the President expressed concern that Dukakis, if elected, could undo the conservative programs of his Administration, saying that “there are many things that have not been completely tied down.”

“I worry about that,” Reagan said.

Assessing Gorbachev

Reflecting the relaxed assessment of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev that he has offered in the wake of the Moscow summit conference earlier this month, Reagan stated: “I doubt that he is willing to say that the (Marxist-Leninist) system itself must go. But he does recognize there must be changes if he is to improve the economy and eliminate some of the things that are making them . . . less able to compete worldwide in the world of trade.”

He continued:

“I don’t say that they are aiming at complete elimination of this socialist framework, but certainly they’re aiming at things that are closer to what we believe in--a greater freedom for the people, an economy that is not hard and fast based on total government management. We’ve seen that already--this is what he’s trying to accomplish.”

Soviet Leader Baptized

And the President, asked whether he thought Gorbachev “might be a believer” in God, said he had not discussed the subject with the Soviet leader, “although I do know from some biographical material that, as a child or as a baby, he was baptized, so at least he came from a family that believed.”

A White House official said later that “Gorbachev mentioned to the President that his parents had him baptized.”

Under ground rules established by the White House, excerpts from the interview could be published Thursday and the rest was available for use today.