CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN : NATO Takes Hard Line With Soviets : Europe: Despite the collapse of the hard-line coup, the Western alliance issues a blunt communique. : W. Europeans Exult

British officials Wednesday welcomed the collapse of the Soviet coup and said Gorbachev’s return would boost the reform process. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also hailed Yeltsin, saying, “The main victory is that of the Soviet people under the leadership of President Yeltsin . . . and other people.”

In Rome, Italy’s President Francesco Cossiga said the coup would have succeeded “if perestroika hadn’t dug in deeper than perhaps we had thought and if it weren’t for acts of courage and determination like that of Yeltsin and (former Foreign Minister Eduard A.) Shevardnadze.”

In Bern, Swiss Foreign Minister Rene Felber told a news conference the resistance of the Soviet people to the coup had shown they did not want bread instead of freedom. “They want both . . . , “ he said. Felber urged Western governments to step up their support to help the Soviet Union along the road to democracy, as the crisis had made clear how fragile the reform process there remains.

In Sweden, officials said the collapse of the coup could speed up independence for the breakaway Baltic republics. Deputy Foreign Minister Pierre Schori said the new development greatly increased the chances of negotiating the freedom of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in a democratic way.

In Norway, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland said: “Boris Yeltsin’s exceptional courage and strength of will in the face of a seemingly superior force will go down in history as a example for all those who fight for people’s right to freedom and self-determination.”