740.00119 Control (Rumania)/3–645
The American Representative in Rumania (Berry) to the Deputy Peopled Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union (Vyshinsky)68
Dear Mr. Vyshinsky: I was informed that you had arrived in Bucharest yesterday and I had hoped to be able to see you today to greet you and pass on to you information that I have received concerning the attitude of the American Government upon certain political problems in Rumania. As I understand that you are occupied and will be unable to see me today, I am taking this means to bring to your attention this information, reserving for a later date the pleasure of welcoming you personally upon your return to Bucharest.
According to instructions I have received from the American Government, my Government is of the opinion that:
- 1.
- A coalition government representing all political groups and social classes is the most suitable means of effecting a representative administration in Rumania at the present time. Until the people have had the opportunity to express their will in free elections, the American Government would not desire to see an exclusively National Peasant or exclusively National Democratic Front Government, and we [Page 487] would particularly deplore the use or display of force or any political chicanery to bring any group into power.
- 2.
- Attempts to bring about administrative changes by disorderly means or by the use of force or intimidation should not be tolerated. On the other hand, encouragement should be given any endeavor looking to the establishment of procedures whereby local and general elections may be held on the basis of free and secret ballot or other democratic means.
- 3.
- No political group or organization should be permitted to remain in the possession of arms. All instruments of force should be at the disposition of the governmental authorities. Every care should be exercised to ensure that these authorities have at their disposal adequate forces and equipment to maintain internal order.
Yours very sincerely,
- Telegram 145, February 28, 1945, 5 p.m., from Bucharest, reported that Berry had tried all day without success to see Vyshinsky, and, failing that, had written to Vyshinsky along the lines set forth in Department’s instructions (740.00119 Control (Rumania)/2–2845). A copy of Berry’s letter was transmitted to the Department as enclosure 1 to D–147, March 6, 1945, from Bucharest, not printed. The position of the United States Government with regard to the situation in Rumania as set forth in Berry’s letter was repeated in a letter of February 28 from General Schuyler to General Vinogradov, not printed. Schuyler’s letter, the text of which was transmitted in his message M 483, February 28, to the War Department, not printed, also invited attention to the fact that in conformance with the spirit of the Yalta Declaration on Liberated Europe, all instructions and directives involving matters of policy implementing the Declaration that might be issued in the name of the Allied Control Commission for Rumania should be issued only after consultation among the Soviet, American, and British members of the Commission. Schuyler expressed his readiness to discuss the action to be taken by the Commission which would insure a concert of policies on the part of the respective governments while assisting the Rumanian people in the formation of a stable and representative government (Department of Defense Files)↩