870.811/210: Telegram
The Minister in Rumania (Gunther) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 21—1:28 a.m.]
550. A high official of the Foreign Office has informed me in confidence that the Russian Government in connection with its move to be included in the European Danube Commission has insisted: 1) that Italy be excluded; 2) that Russia should participate from Bratislava to the Black Sea and not merely on the lower reaches of the Danube from Braila down. I understand this to mean that Russia has not suggested that it should become a member of the International Commission but rather that the jurisdiction of the European Commission should be extended to Bratislava. Considering that Russia has never before been a member of either of the two Commissions, these pretensions seemed to him rather ominous.