Office of the Historian

CFM Files

United States Delegation Journal

August 31, 1946, 4 p.m.

USDel (PC) (Journal) 30

With the Rumanian Delegation present, M. Auer, representative of Hungary, addressed a joint meeting of the Rumanian and Hungarian Commissions on the subject of the Hungarian and Rumanian frontier. He referred briefly to the history of the dispute over Transylvania and to the claim which the Hungarian Government had made for the return of 22,000 square kilometers of territory. Since this proposal had not been accepted by the Council of Foreign Ministers or by the Peace Conference, the Hungarian Delegation now wished to propose a solution involving the rectification of the frontier on purely [Page 331] ethnic grounds. The Hungarian claim, shown on a map which was distributed, involved only 4,000 square kilometers, including the cities of Szatmar, Nagykaroly, Nagyvarad, Nagyszalonta and Arad. M. Auer linked this proposal with Hungary’s desire to obtain protection for the large Hungarian minority in Transylvania, including wide local autonomy for the Szeklers. He proposed that the Conference recommend to the Hungarian and Rumanian Delegations that they undertake negotiations with a view to arriving at a solution. Should they not agree, then the Peace Conference should determine the most just solution and recommend it to the Council of Foreign Ministers.6

It was agreed to adjourn the meeting until September 2 at 4 p.m., at which time the Rumanian Delegation would present its views on the same subject.

  1. For a memorandum on the Hungarian proposal by John C. Campbell of the United States delegation, September 2, see vol. iv, p. 851.↩