Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945

Executive Secretariat Files

Briefing Book Paper

undated

American Position on Allied Control Commissions in Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary

The United States is represented on the Allied Control Commissions established to control the execution of the armistice agreements with Rumania and Bulgaria. The Commissions are organized on the same general pattern as the Allied Commission in Italy with Russia playing the leading role which Great Britain and the United States have in Italy. The Commission for Rumania operates under statutes drawn up by the Soviet Government. So far as the Department is aware, no similar statutes govern the operations of the Commission for Bulgaria. The organization of the Commission for Hungary is now under discussion at Moscow.

The United States Government has not taken exception to the Soviet view that the actual operation of the Commissions should be in the hands of the Soviet military authorities, at least in the period before the surrender of Germany. The Department believes strongly, however, that policy directives should not be issued to the local Governments by the Soviet authorities in the name of the Commissions without prior consultation with the American and British representatives. Otherwise the United States is in the public mind associated with actions of which it has no official knowledge.

Following Germany’s surrender the United States would like to see the Control Commissions become genuinely tripartite in character, with all three Allied Governments having equal participation.

In Rumania, the Soviet Chairman of the Commission has accepted the principle of prior consultation with the American delegation before the issuance of directives. Notwithstanding this apparent improvement there is now before us a new example of the Soviet unilateral method; namely, the orders issued to the Rumanian Government to prepare lists of racial Germans in Rumania for deportation to Soviet Russia for labor service. This matter is now being taken up in Bucharest, and representations will also be made in Moscow, both as to the substance of the order, and as to the unilateral procedure adopted.

In the case of Bulgaria the Department has been informed that prior consultation does not take place. In the case of Hungary we have proposed a protocol to the armistice clearly defining the rights of our representatives. At the present moment of negotiation it appears that our proposed text of this protocol may not be accepted, but the discussion now taking place at Moscow will doubtless result in more satisfactory provisions as regards our representation in Hungary, than had been proposed by the Soviet Government, and will probably serve also to remove some of the sources of complaint in Rumania and Bulgaria.¹

With respect to the second part of the armistice period the Department has taken no action regarding the Commission for Rumania. In the case of Bulgaria, on which our views were made clear during the discussion of armistice terms, the British and Soviet Governments have been informed that we reserve the right to reopen discussion of the matter at a later date. As for Hungary, we are seeking to have our equal participation stipulated in the armistice agreement period, failing which we shall make a similar reservation as in the case of Bulgaria.

In addition to its military representation on the Control Commissions, this Government has in Rumania and Bulgaria civilian “United States Representatives”, who have the personal rank of Minister and who maintain informal relations with the Rumanian and Bulgarian Governments, respectively. The United Kingdom has similar representatives in Rumania and Bulgaria, and, according to present plans, both the United States and the United Kingdom will be so represented in Hungary.

The United States Representatives have no connection with the work of the Allied Control Commissions except in so far as they may be consulted by the American representatives on those Commissions on matters of American foreign policy. Both delegations have of course instructions for close cooperation in the protection of American interests.

1. For the texts of the armistice agreements signed September 12, 1944, with Rumania, signed October 28, 1944, with Bulgaria, and signed January 20, 1945, with Hungary, see Department of State Executive Agreement Series Nos. 490, 437, and 456 respectively, or 59 Stat. 1712, 58 Stat. 1498, and 59 Stat. 1321.