740.00119 Control (Italy)/5–1445
The Italian Ambassador (Tarchiani) to the Acting Secretary of State
Note Verbale
The Italian Ambassador presents his compliments to the Honorable the Acting Secretary of State and has the honor to express his most profound gratitude for the public statement issued last Saturday evening by the Department of State concerning the question of Venezia Giulia.48
The Ambassador, who had already arranged to bring to the knowledge of his Government the communications made in the past to the Embassy by the Department in regard to the decisions taken in this country, concerning the Italian eastern territories included in the 1939 boundary line, has immediately provided to communicate to Rome the aforesaid statement, which constitutes such a decided reaffirmation of the principles of international justice and equity unswervingly fostered by the policy of the United States. The point of view expressed in the declaration under reference corresponds in substance to the one repeatedly expressed by the Italian Government, as regards the necessity that the Italian eastern territories be subjected to the Anglo-American administration until it will be possible to reach a definite peace settlement, according to the principles which bind the United Nations, and as regards the advisability of free direct negotiations between Italy and Yugoslavia for the amicable solution of the question.
The Ambassador, therefore, feels sure that he interprets the sentiments of his Government in expressing to the Honorable the Acting Secretary of State the feelings of the deepest gratitude of the entire Italian nation, gravely perturbed by the unilateral Yugoslav action.
According to the last reports cabled to the Embassy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Yugoslav Government is carrying out in that region acts of sovereignty, of administration and of occupation, extending them to the whole Italian territory between the 1939 frontiers and the Isonzo River. The Italian population is living under a regime [Page 1163] of fear which is worsening more and more: arrests, internments, and abuses are daily occurrences.
On the other hand, according to reports of the Associated Press from Belgrade, an agreement would have been reached between Marshal Tito and an emissary from Headquarters of Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, under which the present situation, determined by unilateral actions and in complete opposition to the written and oral assurances given to the Italian Government by the Allies, would remain practically unchanged.
The President of the Council and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy had already presented a solemn protest to the Ambassadors of the United States and Great Britain in Rome and to that Allied Commission against the Yugoslav attempt to solve unilaterally the question of Venezia Giulia with arbitrary actions of force.
The Italian Ambassador, acting upon instructions received from his Government, has the honor to draw on the above-described situation the most careful attention of the Honorable the Acting Secretary of State and to protest against the predisposed violent action of the Yugoslavs. The Italian Ambassador has also been instructed to make the amplest and most explicit reservations on any decision concerning the assignment of territories, as well as on any agreements concerning matters of local administration.
The Italian Ambassador has the honor finally to add that his Government is fully aware of how delicate the situation is, but that it has no doubt that the support and assistance of the United States Government will be given to it in conformity also with the kind assurances previously given, and with the noble principles reasserted on the statement of the Department of State released to the press on May 12th. More so that the events in Venezia Giulia deeply affect also the internal situation of the country, infringe upon an orderly adjustment of its democratic life, disappoint all sectors of public opinion on the practical possibility for the Allies to reach concrete solutions of equity and justice.
- Department of State Bulletin, May 15, 1945, p. 902.↩