760P.61/129: Telegram
The Minister in Latvia (Wiley) to the Secretary of State
Riga, June 10,
1940—6 p.m.
[Received June 10—4:30 p.m.]
[Received June 10—4:30 p.m.]
118. A new wave of rumors of impending Sovietization has swept Riga. Even responsible Latvian circles share the anxiety. The Foreign Minister however, insists that so far as he knows these rumors are entirely without foundation; that Berkis, Latvian Minister of [Page 368] War now in the Soviet Union, has reported nothing of an alarming nature and that the Soviet incident with Lithuania does not appear to have created a dangerous situation.25
Wiley
- The Minister reported in a later telegram, No. 122, June 14, 3 p.m., that it was generally understood that General Berkis had “signed a protocol extending the scope of Latvian-Soviet military cooperation.” (760P.61/132) The original pact of mutual assistance between Latvia and the Soviet Union had been signed at Moscow on October 5, 1939. A translation of the text of this treaty is printed in Department of State Bulletin, November 11, 1939, p. 542; or League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. cxcviii, p. 385.↩