OVERSEAS: SOFT CHEER FOR FORD

After Gerald Ford goofed in last week's debates, asserting that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe," eyebrows shot up throughout Western Europe. A small group of Britons, watching a tape of the debates in London, guffawed at the remark, not believing their ears. West Germany's respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented that such a statement "cannot but make our hair stand on end."

Despite Ford's gaffe and Carter's extensive talk about the need for "morality" in U.S. foreign policy (a concern with which pragmatic Europeans have little patience) the race is widely viewed as a personality contest between two competent, but certainly not dazzling, politicians who scarcely differ in their approach to key issues. Most Western and Japanese political leaders are softly cheering for Ford. His main attraction: being a known quantity, v. the relatively unknown Jimmy Carter. West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt makes it a point to note privately that Ford has "grown" into the presidency and is much more intelligent and decisive than is popularly thought. But the West Germans also regard Carter as a highly competent, tough and intelligent politician, and are pleased that he has tempered his earlier cries for cuts in the defense budget--a very sensitive matter to the NATO country facing the most threatening Warsaw Pact troops. European officials, moreover, have long known and trusted a number of Carter's foreign affairs advisers, like Cyrus Vance and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Only the Italians, of all West Europeans, feel that they will be affected by the outcome of the U.S. election. Because Ford has very strongly opposed Communist Party participation in an Italian government, his election is favored by the Christian Democrats, who have ruled Italy since the end of World War IL The Communists, and those favoring an increased role for them in government are rooting for Carter. Rightly or wrongly, they are convinced that he will be more "flexible" than Ford on the issue of Communist participation.

In the volatile Middle East, both Egypt and Israel seem reluctant to see a change in the White House.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, in an interview last week with ABC Debutante Barbara Walters, declared that "Ford is my dearest friend ... If he is reelected, it will be a very happy occasion for me." The Egyptian leader was obviously thinking of the Ford-Kissinger policies that have enabled Cairo to recover much of the Sinai Desert and its valuable oilfields from Israel.

Jerusalem is relishing the spectacle of both candidates trying to outdo each other in public pledges of support for Israel. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, after watching the debates on TV in New York, only half jested: "I don't know if Ford or Carter won. All I know is that Israel won." Despite the insistence that it has no preference in the race, the administration of Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin is believed to favor the incumbent. Familiarity is again the reason.

Because Moscow is highly allergic to surprises in its relations with Washington, it, too, slightly favors familiar Jerry Ford. Moscow has sniped at Carter, charging him with violating the "spirit of Helsinki" because he has urged the U.S. to use economic pressure against the Soviets. In reporting last week's debate, Pravda complained that Carter attacked Ford for "softness" in dealing with the U.S.S.R. while "pursuing the policy of detente." Ford's performance also came in for criticism; the party daily charged that he "did not contribute to a relaxation of tensions" by urging that the U.S. bargain with Moscow from a "position of strength."

The Chinese seem ambivalent about the U.S. election. For them, the key criterion by which to judge a U.S. President is: Where does he stand in the Sino-Soviet dispute? While Carter's advocacy of a tougher policy toward Moscow clearly pleases the Chinese, they know almost nothing else about him. Ford apparently has failed to impress them, and Peking accuses him of having a "Munich mentality." Translation: Ford has been too concerned about improving U.S. relations with Moscow.

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