868.00/12–645
The Secretary of State to the Greek Ambassador (Diamantopoulos)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Ambassador of Greece and has the honor to refer to the Embassy’s note no. 4770 of December 6, 1945, which states that “the Greek Government, acquiescing in the strong recommendations of the Allied observers to fix a date for the elections not later than March, has designated the last Sunday of March for that purpose” but that the Greek Government considers the fixing of a definite date extremely inadvisable and suggests a postponement of elections until some time in April.
It must be pointed out that the Chiefs of the Allied Mission for Observation of Greek Elections, recently conferring with Greek officials in Athens, have at no time recommended to the Greek Government a definite date for Greek elections. Such a decision is considered to be the exclusive prerogative of the Greek Government, at whose invitation the United States, British and French Governments have agreed to offer friendly assistance as impartial observers. Any postponement of the date already officially announced by the Greek Government is appropriately a concern of the Greek Government.
It must be added that the offer of the United States Government to assist in observing Greek elections was made when it was envisaged that such elections would be held within the time limitation set forth in the Varkiza Agreement. Any postponement to a date in the indefinite future would make it necessary for this Government to reconsider its undertaking in the light of possible difficulties in the physical arrangements for an organization deemed adequate for the successful observation of elections on a nationwide scale.
The Greek Government is requested to bring the foregoing views to the attention of the other Governments to which its note was addressed and to take the necessary steps to correct any erroneous impression on the part of the public in Greece that the date for elections was set at the insistence of the Chiefs of the Allied Mission for the Observation of Greek Elections.