760p.6111/47: Telegram
The Minister in Latvia (Wiley) to the Secretary of State
228. Foreign Office expects that negotiations in Moscow will be concluded today and that Foreign Minister will sign without personal consultation with his Government. Munters is expected to leave Moscow tonight by train for Riga. High official of the Foreign Office states that although the Foreign Office is not informed of details, [Page 955] he understands the Latvian-Soviet pact will follow the lines of the recent Estonian-Soviet accord. He made it clear that Libau would be included in the proposed agreement but was unable to give any details with regard to other localities where the Soviet Union might establish bases. He admitted that the stationing of Soviet garrisons in Latvia was not excluded. He thought the official text would be made public at once by Tass. If there were secret clauses, he went on, the Latvian Government would only know of them on Munters’ return. This indicates that latter had very full powers indeed.
The lack of intelligence between the Baltic States was made evident by my informant’s curiosity with regard to the nature of the railway facilities to be granted by Lithuania and whether the Soviet Union had already approached Finland with demands.
On the subject of the “technical” discussions going on between Soviet representatives and the Estonian Government, the Latvian Foreign Office is informed that after having passed through a very difficult phase the tone of the discussions in Tallinn has now somewhat improved. According to the French Minister in Tallinn the most recent development has been a Soviet demand for an air base in Estonia in the neighborhood of the Latvian frontier.
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