Europeans Urge Continued U.S. Presence : Security: But Americans at Munich conference warn that support is diminishing.

Europeans addressing a major conference on security affairs here Saturday called on the United States to remain engaged in Europe, describing the continued American presence as vital to the Continent’s long-term stability.

“The year 1919 stands as a warning,” Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek told the group of defense and foreign affairs specialists attending the 29th Munich Conference on Security Policy.

His comments referred to the year after World War I when the United States withdrew from Europe and opted for a policy of isolation.

“I want to stress the transatlantic tie remains indispensable for our stability,” he added.

Van den Broek’s remarks were echoed by other delegates, including German Defense Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg, who described the United States as a “European power as well.”

Americans at the conference, however, warned that domestic support for the transatlantic commitment is diminishing sharply.

Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.), referred to a fast-changing public mood in America and predicted that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would soon shed its American dominance and become “a mainly European organization.”

“The prevailing and popular view in the United States is that NATO is no longer relevant, necessary or affordable,” he said.

Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) added, “Nothing is less popular in the United States now than foreign aid or a commitment of U.S. forces that is going to cost a lot of money.”

The debate came at a time of concern among America’s key West European allies about the changing security threats they face and of worry that the United States is tiring of its global defense burden and is turning inward.

While the Cold War has ended, an array of problems ranging from nuclear terrorism to the prospect of growing instability and armed conflict in the former Soviet regions of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Muslim regions of Southwestern Asia have brought a new, more complicated security environment.

Stoltenberg spoke of an “area of tension embracing the Islamic countries from Pakistan to Algeria . . . that extends to the immediate vicinity of Europe.”

At times, there were sharp exchanges between European and American delegates.

Complaining about the European Community’s determination to continue subsidizing agricultural and aircraft production and its attempts to limit imports of American films, R. James Woolsey, who was chief American negotiator at talks on conventional forces in Europe, warned: “If you do not pay attention to these issues, you’ll find us moving away and in ways you do not like.”

Van den Broek rejected any linkage between the delicate issues of European farm subsidies, where U.S.-EC differences threaten to torpedo a complex round of global tariff reductions, and America’s willingness to remain engaged militarily in Europe.

“That’s not the way to deal with each other,” the Dutch foreign minister said.

During an informal exchange after the main session Saturday, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) appeared to agree with Van den Broek, saying that it is wrong to link such issues as trade subsidies with the American defense commitment to Europe.

“It’s not a black-and-white (issue) like that and must not be allowed to come like that, because America wants out of NATO anyway,” he said.

In remarks prepared for delivery to today’s second and final day of the Munich conference, Vice President Dan Quayle, however, pledged that the United States would not withdraw from Europe into isolationism.