Seven Allies In One Gondola

So it seemed at the tranquil Venice summit

His face was drawn and pale, and he could not even muster the energy to smile as he emerged from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington last week. Jimmy Carter was physically exhausted from the rigors of his eight-day, 10,500-mile tour of Europe, and he was headed for a long weekend of rest at Camp David to prepare for a campaign swing through California this week. But just as clearly, he was also elated. The President was home from his ninth and probably his most successful summit with U.S. allies. The two days of talks in Venice had gone far better than he or anyone else had expected. Instead of the anticipated division and discord, the seven al lies had affirmed their unity in the face of Soviet provocation and set a common policy to combat inflation and develop energy alternatives to oil. Moreover, Carter had shown signs of the statesmanship that many critics had found missing during his 3 1/2 years in the White House.

Nonetheless, there were some rough spots. Agreements on policy did not mean that the leaders got along better with one another than they have at past meetings. Carter is still regarded with suspicion and indeed disdain by some European leaders, who think that he is too much of an amateur in statecraft. But for the most part, allied tensions ebbed in the tranquil setting of la Serenissima.

Still, one of the most memorable moments of the trip for Carter did not take place during the formal talks on San Giorgio Maggiore island but during a simple breakfast of bread, milk and cheese that he ate one morning with a dozen Benedictine monks. Carter was the only one of the seven leaders to accept the monks' invitation to share a meal at their 16th century monastery. Relating the experience afterward to a rather incredulous British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Carter said that the monks had offered a special prayer for him. He added: "I told them that I needed it."

He does indeed. Following the summit talks, Carter learned from a New York Times-CBS News Poll that only 20% of the American people approve of his conduct of foreign policy, the worst rating of his presidency. In addition, the poll found that Ronald Reagan was running ahead of him as the voters' choice for President, 47% to 37%, the Republican's largest margin to date.

Despite such bad domestic news, Carter could take considerable satisfaction from his new-found unity with the other summit participants on political, economic and energy issues. Said Japanese Foreign Minister Saburo Okita: "Our seven nations are seven passengers in the same gondola." More prosaically, a top Carter aide summed up: "Nobody is trying to claim we got everything we wanted. But in the realm of the possible, things worked out pretty damn well.'"

At the top of the agenda was East-West relations, on which the allies found themselves substantially in agreement--with some unwitting help from the Kremlin. On the eve of the summit, the Soviets clumsily disclosed that they were removing some of their troops from Afghanistan. French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing called the move a step in the right direction, but the other summiteers were unimpressed. A high-ranking British official caustically noted: "The timing is as transparent as the facts are opaque." The seven issued a strongly worded communique: "The Soviet military occupation of Afghanistan is unacceptable now, and we are determined not to accept it in the future." Said a delighted Carter adviser: "U.S. allies, when pushed, will respond."

However temporary, the common front against the Soviets may have been the summit's most important accomplishment. Thus West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt again pledged not to break ranks with the allies in any way when he meets with Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow this week. In addition, Giscard assured Carter and the other leaders that he had not made any concessions to Moscow during his meeting with Brezhnev in Warsaw last month. All in all, said Carter, the Venice summit sent a "very clear signal to the Soviets that. . . it is fruitless for them to try to drive a wedge between us and our European friends and allies."

To achieve a unified response, however, Carter had to modify some of his own policies. This he did with a subtlety that he has seldom before shown. Most notably, Carter backed away from his policy of trying to punish the Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan. He still called for the complete removal of Soviet troops, but he opened the door to the possibility of negotiations with Moscow. Such talks are unlikely, but Carter's willingness to consider them seemed to bring U.S. policy closer to the carrot-and-stick approach of the Europeans, who are fearful of the consequences if the Afghanistan invasion causes detente to disintegrate entirely.

In addition, Carter said he would accept a "transitional arrangement" by the Soviets that would eventually lead to "restoration of an independent and non-aligned Afghanistan." The offer was brusquely rejected by Moscow, which accused Carter of "intensifying" American aggressive actions. But the Europeans were pleased. A British official said of the apparent policy shift; "Three months ago would have been better, but better late than never."

To further the cause of allied unity, the President was at pains to do less preaching than usual and more horse trading with the allies. He was notably restrained during a 90-minute tirade from Schmidt, who was still smarting over a letter from the President three weeks ago implying that he was jeopardizing the alliance by meeting with Brezhnev this week. Carter had suspected that Schmidt might propose to the Soviets a freeze on deployment of medium-range missiles in Europe. But Schmidt told Carter that his suspicions were "totally unwarranted, and you know it." When Schmidt said that he had sent the President copies of speeches spelling out his commitment to NATO's plans to install 572 intermediate-range missiles in Europe by 1983, Carter replied that he had never seen the documents. Said Schmidt: "It's not my fault if someone in the White House throws them into the wastebasket." At the end of the confrontation, the Germans at least appeared to be mollified by Secretary of State Edmund Muskie's comment on the episode: "Let's forget it."

Only on one other occasion did resentment surface over the Europeans' unwillingness to take tough steps against the Soviets, and it came from Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau rather than from Carter. During a discussion about putting economic pressure on Moscow, Trudeau angrily declared: "Canada and the U.S. are taking action that hurts [by restricting grain sales to the Soviet Union]. What are you doing that hurts?" His outburst, said a participant, was greeted with "deafening silence."

The allies seemed more united on economic and energy issues. They promised:

> To regard inflation, rather than economic stagnation, as the main economic enemy. Said their joint declaration: "The reduction of inflation is our immediate top priority and will benefit all nations." Thus, the allies committed themselves to "encouraging investment and innovation" and "shifting resources from government spending to the private sector."

> To reduce their dependence on foreign oil. They promised to double the production and use of coal by the end of the decade, though officials in both Europe and the U.S. are skeptical about whether this can be done because of environmental restrictions and the high cost of converting industrial plants from oil to coal. The seven leaders also declared that the "role of nuclear energy has to be increased if world energy needs are to be met."

> To resist "pressures for protectionist actions [that] can only be self-defeating and aggravate inflation." The allies are particularly worried about the U.S. recession's impact on world trade. During the summit, Carter and State Department officials bluntly cautioned Tokyo against inflaming protectionist sentiment in the U.S. by trying to enlarge the Japanese share of the American automobile market. At the same time, Roy Jenkins, president of the European Community, pleaded with Carter to ask U.S. Steel Corp. to withdraw its antidumping suit against seven European steel-exporting countries. Carter listened patiently, but there is not much he can do. The case is pending before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. If it rules that the complaint is valid, special U.S. tariffs might be imposed and sharply reduce U.S. orders for European steel. The Europeans in turn might retaliate with higher tariffs on a wide range of products, and the fragile fabric of trade agreements would start to unravel. Said a senior European Community official: "It's like holding on to a roof in a gale."

Between summit sessions, the allied leaders found time to see some of the city's dazzling sights. The First Family chugged along the canals in the Battle Force, an admiral's barge borrowed from the U.S. Sixth Fleet. The Venetians were miffed that the Carters did not use one of the city's own sleek motorboats, but the Secret Service vetoed them as not providing sufficient security. When Rosalynn and Amy were on their own, however, they rode in a gondola, followed by another carrying musicians who played traditional Italian folk music.

The President was visibly awed by the city's grandeur. "This is beautiful!" he exclaimed as he entered the courtyard of the Doges' Palace as dusk cast a golden glow on St. Mark's Square. Pausing before Tintoretto's painting The Fall of Manna, in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, the President said that he was puzzled by the appearance of the manna. Asked an irreverent Muskie: "What's the matter? Does it look like peanuts?"

Tourists were surprised to see Trudeau feeding the pigeons in St. Mark's Square. He was accompanied by his son Justin, 8, who was dressed in a gondolier's outfit. Much to the dismay of her security detail, Thatcher insisted on climbing up and down rickety, decaying stairways to examine frescoes and mosaics in a church on Torcello island. Among the leaders, only Schmidt seemed oblivious to the city's splendor. Observed an Italian journalist: "He was much more interested in the championship football game between Germany and Belgium than in seeing the Doges' Palace."

Making the most of his trip abroad, Carter scheduled three other stops on his way home from the summit. The first was in Belgrade, where there was no indication that the Yugoslavs were upset about his failure to attend President Josip Broz Tito's funeral. Greeted at the airport by President Cvijetin Mijatovic, Carter impressed his hosts by pledging that the U.S. would continue to support the "independent territorial integrity and the unity of Yugoslavia." Nervous about Soviet intentions now that Tito is gone, the Yugoslav leaders felt that Carter's visit bolstered their regime.

Driving in a 48-car, almost mile-long motorcade to Belgrade, Carter waved to some 100,000 applauding Yugoslavs along the route and occasionally left his limousine to clasp hands. At Tito's tomb, a white marble vault on the grounds of the late Yugoslav President's residence, Carter placed red roses on the monument. Then he met for two hours with the nation's leaders. They aired their differences on the Middle East. The Yugoslavs argued that the Camp David accords had collapsed and the Palestine Liberation Organization should be invited to participate in the peace talks. But in a joint statement, the two nations were in agreement on opposing "military intervention and all other forms of interference in the internal affairs of independent countries." The U.S. would have liked a stronger condemnation of the invasion of Afghanistan, but the Yugoslavs are wary of antagonizing the Soviets during a time of transition in their nation's leadership. When the meeting broke up, the Carters strolled through the park at the Kalemegdan fortress and then joined rather stiffly in a festive folk dance. "I don't know what they were doing," Carter explained. "But I was doing a south Georgia square dance."

After 24 hours in Yugoslavia, Carter touched down for 20 hours in Spain. King Juan Carlos, a trained pilot, flew his helicopter to the airport to greet the President, and the pair stood under portable gazebos while an honor guard passed in review. At a luncheon at a magnificent, 200-ft.-long table in the 18th century royal palace in Madrid, Carter toasted Spanish democracy as a "tonic for the entire Western world." He said that the U.S. supports Spain's entry into the Common Market and NATO, though he added that the decision on joining the military alliance would have to be taken "solely and exclusively by Spain." After lunch, the King introduced Carter to Communist Leader Santiago Carrillo, who also chatted with Zbigniew Brzezinski. The National Security Adviser said he had read Carrillo's book Eurocommunism and the State, but the Communist later scoffed: "He doesn't appear to have understood a word that was in it."

In the afternoon, the Carters toured the Prado museum, where the President announced that El Greco was his favorite artist. But after viewing masterpieces by Goya and Velazquez, Carter diplomatically retreated. Said he: "It's hard to pick out one favorite." Carter had to be nudged repeatedly to leave the gallery and get on with his schedule. "It's overwhelming," he said. "We've wanted to come to the Prado even before we were married 34 years ago." Dining with Premier Adolfo Suarez that evening, Carter told Guitarist Andres Segovia: "Next time you are in the States, come and see us at the White House. That is if we're still there."

Carter spent the briefest time--six hours--in Portugal. Premier Francisco Sa Carneiro pledged continued support of American policies. Carter in turn praised Portugal's "new permanent democracy." A top Portuguese official noted the opposition of some Europeans to his nation's application for membership in the Common Market and observed to reporters: "It's nice to know we have a friend on the other side of the Atlantic." Carter also met with Socialist Leader Mario Soares, who is Sa Carneiro's bitter rival in this fall's elections. Said Soares of Carter: "I found him very confident and serene."

After lunch, Carter's tour came to an end, and he headed back to Washington. It had been a surprisingly smooth trip, and one in which he had demonstrated, as he has in the past, that the farther he is from home, the better he is able to act truly presidential.

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