740.0011 European War 1939/12435
The Secretary of State to the Yugoslav Minister (Fotitch)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your notes of June 5, 194193 conveying to me the two statements of the Royal Yugoslav [Page 982] Government with respect, first, to the state of war existing between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Hungary, and, second, to the action of the German Reich and the Kingdom of Italy in the partition and annexation of the Slovenian provinces of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
I have taken due note of the resolution adopted by the Royal Yugoslav Government on May 4, 1941 to the effect that, in view of the participation of Bulgaria and Hungary in the attack against Yugoslavia perpetrated by the Axis powers, and in view of the participation of these countries in the dismemberment of the national territory of Yugoslavia, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia considers itself in a state of war—with Bulgaria as from April 6 and with Hungary as from April 10, 1941. In communicating to me this statement the Royal Yugoslav Government desired to emphasize that Bulgaria and Hungary were bound to Yugoslavia by treaties of eternal friendship, and that their acts of unprovoked aggression, committed at a time when the Yugoslav people were engaged in a bitter struggle for the maintenance of their freedom and independence, had seriously jeopardized all prospects of friendship and cooperation among the countries of the Danubian and Balkan regions.
I have also noted the statement of the Royal Yugoslav Government that the brutal partition of Slovenia constitutes a violation of the principle of ethnic self-determination, more especially since the territory now annexed by Germany and Italy is inhabited by compact and ethnically pure Slovenian elements; that this annexation is contrary to all principles of international law which enjoins the power occupying the adversary’s territory in the course of hostilities from changing the juridical status of such territory until a peace settlement has been made; and that the Royal Yugoslav Government, which includes the only legitimate representatives of the Slovenian people, desires to register their emphatic protest against this action of the German Reich and of the Kingdom of Italy which has as its object the destruction of the national life and aspirations of the Slovenian people and of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In thanking you for your courtesy in bringing these two statements to my attention, I take this opportunity to refer to the repeated declarations of the Government of the United States in which the indignation of this Government and of the American people with regard to the invasion and mutilation of Yugoslavia has found expression.
Accept [etc.]
[File copy not signed]
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