740.00119 European War 1939/2605: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Hamilton) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 16—12:30 a.m.]
1727. Embassy’s 1468, April 27, 7 p.m. The British Ambassador has informed me that the Soviet Government has replied to the Bulgarian note of April 24 substantially as follows:
The Bulgarian proposal to provide more detailed particulars for verification is unacceptable since a unilateral verification by the Bulgarian authorities could not produce positive results or win the confidence of the Soviet Government. It is sufficient to recall that the Soviet Consulate at Varna was closed in the autumn of 1942 on the demand of the Bulgarian Government, although consulates of states friendly to Germany continued to exist there and in other Bulgarian ports. [Page 328] It should also be recalled that for over 2 years the Bulgarian Government has forbidden Soviet representatives in Sofia any access to Bulgarian ports on the Black Sea or on the Danube.
If the Bulgarian Government is anxious to establish the facts and to verify the actual situation on the spot, this should not be done by representatives of the Bulgarian Government alone but also by Soviet representatives. For this purpose the Soviet Government considers it necessary to reestablish a Soviet Consulate at Varna and also to establish consulates in Burgas and Ruschuk since, according to information of the Soviet Government, the Bulgarian Black Sea and Danube ports are bases for the German Armed Forces operating against the Soviet Union. The presence of Soviet Consulates in these ports would enable representatives, together with Bulgarian representatives, to verify the facts on the spot and, if it should be required, to do so in the future.