Office of the Historian

46. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Hillenbrand) to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Johnson)1

Washington, July 30, 1970.

SUBJECT

  • Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL)—Status of Negotiations with FRG

When our “special emissary,” Fred Valtin of CIA, went to Germany in June he encountered high-level objections to the continuance of RFE [Page 127] and RL.2 Minister Ehmke and State Secretary Bahr of the FRG Chancery, who are leading foreign policy advisors to Chancellor Brandt, told Valtin on June 25 that both Radios must be removed from Germany within the next year or two. This signal that some top West German officials favor closing down RFE and RL, probably before the Olympic Games begin in Munich in 1972, calls for a further US approach in the interest of discouraging such an action.

After considerable discussion, the Department and CIA officers concerned concluded that the next stage in our discussion of the subject with the FRG should be an explanation to Chancellor Brandt of the importance the USG attaches to the continuance of RFE and RL. Since the Radios are ostensibly non-official, and since we do not know the degree to which Brandt may be aware of or share the views of Ehmke and Bahr, we believe it would be wise to avoid using an official channel (e.g. Embassy) or high-level intercession (e.g. Robert Murphy)3 at this stage. Such approaches should be retained, however, as possible future options if it appears that a representation by a high-level U.S. personage is required.

We have accepted CIAʼs recommendation that it would be best at this stage for Valtin, who handled the problem previously and is well-known to key German officials including Brandt, to return to Germany to see Brandt personally and privately. Valtin would try to ascertain whether a firm FRG decision has been taken to have RFE and RL leave Germany by the summer of 1972. It should be highly useful to the USG to obtain a first-hand reading of Brandtʼs attitude, regardless of whether the German Government has made a decision, and using Valtin now has the advantage of preserving maximum flexibility for future U.S. moves.

Recommendation: If the oral report of the CIA representative in the 40 Committee includes a proposal that Valtin discuss the Radios with Brandt as outlined above, that you support the proposal.

  1. Source: Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, 40 Committee Minutes, August 7, 1970. Secret. Sent through Coerr. Drafted by A.E. Wellons (INR/DDC) and Skoug and cleared by Sutterlin and Cline (INR).↩
  2. See Documents 41 and 42.↩
  3. See Document 44.↩