860H.014/7–246
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Political Adviser to the United States Delegation at the Council of Foreign Ministers (Mosely)
| Participants: | The Secretary |
| Mr. Kardelj, Vice Premier of Yugoslavia | |
| Mr. Mosely | |
| Interpreter for Mr. Kardelj |
Mr. Kardelj called by his request at 11:30 and remained in conversation with the Secretary until 12:30.
Mr. Kardelj raised numerous protests against the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers of July 1, fixing the western frontier of Yugoslavia. He reiterated the Yugoslav claims to the entire area previously demanded by it. He agreed with Mr. Byrnes that the area of Venezia Giulia west of the French line contained about 330,000 Italians and 120,000 Yugoslavs on the basis of the 1910 census, but he drew attention to the people of Slovene descent living in the eastern part of the province of Udine.
One of Mr. Kardelj’s main complaints was that Slovenia would have no seacoast. To this Mr. Byrnes commented that, as part of Yugoslavia, it would have the use of numerous seaports in addition to having free port facilities at Trieste.
The Secretary asked if Mr. Kardelj would not prefer to have the question of internationalizing the Trieste area decided by the Peace Conference and stated that he personally would be willing to leave the decision on the internationalization of that area to be made in accordance with recommendations of the Conference of Twenty-One Nations. The Secretary stressed his preference for having this question and many others decided by the Conference of twenty-one Governments, rather than by the four Ministers. Mr. Kardelj felt that in any case the views of the four Great Powers would be decisive, but that a postponement of the final decision was somewhat to be preferred to an immediate decision unfavorable to Yugoslav claims.
The Secretary made very clear the impartial attitude of the United States Government in a matter affecting the Yugoslav and Italian peoples so closely. He recalled the American opposition to the 1919 [Page 728] settlement and stated that we did not wish to see made a similar mistake this time on the other side. Mr. Byrnes expressed the hope that a settlement which was equitable in an ethnic sense would enable both peoples to live and work together to their common benefit.