874.00/8–645: Telegram
The United States Representative in Bulgaria (Barnes) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:30 p.m.]
418. The press this a.m. contains an interview with a member of the central electoral committee of the FF (Fatherland Front) who states emphatically that there will be no postponement of Aug 26 elections. According to this spokesman, rumors of postponement originate with “agents provocateurs in the service of foreign interests”. If his statement reflects position of the Govt, and there seems no reason to believe that it does not, it would appear that Moscow has given the “go ahead” signal, despite whatever may have been agreed to at Potsdam. If in the hopes of affecting the election situation, the US and UK contemplate any plain speaking to the Bulgarian Govt on the subject of recognition they should act promptly.
In my opinion a few well chosen words addressed to the Bulgarian Govt by the western democracies might avoid for them a lengthy postelection period of bickering and frustration with respect to this country and the problems of recognition and peace negotiations. Only an emphatic warning that unfettered elections will give Bulgaria the peace its people so earnestly desire can now alter election matters here.
Speaking at Pleven yesterday one of the closest of the Prime Minister’s collaborators said “Who wants the intervention of foreign powers in the internal life of the country, when the FF won independence for Bulgaria with the help of the brotherly Soviet troops.” He added that “No other govt, no other political combination could save Bulgaria from the threatening catastrophe of civil war, hunger and misery; that if Bulgaria today is not one of the defeated, humiliated and devastated countries, this is because of the foreign policy of [Page 277] the FF, and that this foreign policy will be continued after the elections”.
Rptd to Moscow as 216.