Representatives of eight central and eastern European nations—Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland and Rumania— met in Warsaw from May 11 through 14, 1955, and concluded a twenty-year treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. In a communique issued at the close of the discussions, the participants stated that they had considered the changes in the international situation resulting from the ratification of the Paris agreements,1 and concluded that the ratification of the agreements meant that a new military group, Western European Union, in which a remilitarized west Germany would participate, increased the danger of war and created a threat to their national security. The treaty signed by the eight participants at the close of the conference was intended to meet the alleged new military threat; under it, the signatories agreed (i) to abstain from threats or the use of violence, and to settle international disputes by peaceful means; (2) to cooperate in all international actions, including attempts to reduce the level of armaments, with the purpose of ensuring peace and security; (3) to hold mutual consultations on all important international problems, particularly in the event of a threat of armed attack against one or several of the signatories; (4) to afford immediate assistance in the case of armed aggression in Europe against one or several of the signatories, which assistance would cease as soon as the United Nations Security Council had taken measures to ensure peace.