740.00119 Council/9–1646: Telegram
Mr. Jefferson Caffery, Member of the United States Delegation, to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received September 16—11:45 a.m.]
4642. Delsec 951. At meeting Bulgarian Commission September 1164 Ambassador Caffery outlined position US delegation (Reurtel 231, September 1365) as favoring present text Article 1, i.e. no change in 1941 frontiers. After rejecting Bulgarian claim which is for whole territory of western Thrace, he spoke of US understanding of Greece’s anxiety for security pending the effective operation of measures for general security. He said the US Delegation “has considered with full sympathy the Greek Delegation’s presentation of its case” but made this important reservation, “we want to be sure, however, that the proposal now before us would effectively serve this purpose. These strategic considerations may require further study and consultation with the military advisers of our respective [Page 866] delegations. This would enable us to consider whether some variation of the Greek proposal which would not entail the accretion of a new ethnic element some arrangement for demilitarization of the Bulgarian side of the frontier, for example, might not meet Greece’s security requirements. We cannot dismiss out of hand any proposal to this end”.
For your background information it is important to note that much of the debate in the Bulgarian commission instead of discussing the treaty provisions on their merits has been made the occasion for violent political harangues by the Slav bloc with charges against Greek and British imperialism with claims for south Slav unification including Greek Macedonia etc. Caffery’s speech was the only formal statement made thus far seeking a middle ground for a settlement. In one sense it counter-balanced speech of Soviet representative which sought somewhat same end (maintenance of present frontier) in rejecting Greek case while showing sympathy for Bulgarian claim without, however, actually sponsoring it.
- For the United States Delegation Journal account of the 9th Meeting of the Political and Territorial Commission for Bulgaria, see vol. iii, p. 422.↩
- Telegram 731, September 13, from Sofia, repeated to Paris for Delsec as 231, p. 859.↩