Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, The Near East and Africa, Volume VII

768.75/7–1246

Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. William O. Baxter of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs

confidential

[Washington,] July 12, 1946.

Mr. Gouras, Chargé of the Greek Embassy, called today at his request to ask if the Department had any further information on developments to report on the Greek-Albanian frontier incident of July 7.

I told Mr. Gouras that our Embassy at Athens had reported direct to the Department the same details which the Greek Embassy had transmitted in its memorandum of July 10.³⁴ I explained to Mr. Gouras that at the present time we are having some difficulty in cable communications with Tirana and that to date we have had no reply to our request for information from Mr. Jacobs.

Mr. Gouras asked if we had instructed our mission in Albania to make representations to the Albanian Government. I told him that we had not done so but had merely asked for comment, at the same time explaining the anomalous situation of our mission there, which is not in official diplomatic relations with the Albanian Government.³⁵ I mentioned, however, that our Embassy at Athens had transmitted press reports from Greece indicating that the Greek Government intended to request the four Allies to take this matter up with the Albanian Government, but that to date we had received no formal request from the Greek Government to intervene.³⁶

34. Not printed.
35. Tirana, on July 12, reported information from the Albanian official press of July 9 that a clash with Greek forces had taken place on Albanian territory and that the various frontier incidents were attempts by the neo-Fascist Greeks to violate the border and pillage Albania (telegram 380, 768.75/7–1246). This information was given informally to the Greek Chargé by Mr. Baxter on July 15.
36. The formal request was made by the Greek Foreign Office in a note dated July 12 but received by the American Embassy 3 days later. The note was transmitted to the Department in telegram 903, July 15, 5 p.m., from Athens, and received in the Department the following day at 3:26 p.m. (768.75/7–1546).