859B.20/6–1647
Memorandum by the Deputy Director of the Office of European Affairs (Hickerson) to the Secretary of State
discussion
Ambassador Kauffmann is seeing you to say good-bye before leaving June 18 for Denmark, and also in order to be able to say to his Government that he has spoken with you regarding Greenland. He saw Mr. Lovett on June 10.
After the release of your press statement of May 29, (attachment 1)1 Mr. Kauffmann indicated a desire to have an off-the-record talk with officials of the Office of European Affairs. In the course of that conversation, which took place Friday, June 6, I reminded him that Secretary Byrnes outlined to the Danish Foreign Minister last December alternative possible solutions regarding Greenland (attachment 22). [The alternatives outlined by Mr. Byrnes were: 1. A long-term arrangement for US military facilities in certain unspecified areas of Greenland, with Danish sovereignty unimpaired and Denmark recognizing the inseparability of Greenland from the defense system of the United States; or 2. A treaty whereby the United States undertakes the defense of Greenland in exchange for the right to maintain necessary military installations there, while reaffirming recognition of Danish sovereignty; or 3. US purchase of Greenland in full accord with the UN Charter and purposes.]3
Mr. Kauffmann has just told us that he believes sale to be out of the question but that it might well be possible to arrange for a joint base agreement. He believes Danish adherence to such an agreement would be facilitated by bringing Canada, or even the other American Republics, into the picture, with a view to making it a regional agreement in keeping with the UN Charter. We gave Mr. Kauffmann some [Page 669] indication that it might be possible to bring Canada into the picture in a new agreement. The Ambassador expressed the desire for additional information regarding the strategic significance of Greenland to the United States in order to enable him to interpret that significance properly to his Government.
In compliance with the Ambassador’s request I arranged for him to meet General Lauris Norstad4 and Vice Admiral Sherman5 in my office on June 12. They emphasized to him the extreme importance of Greenland to the defense of the United States and of this hemisphere.
Ambassador Kauffmann expects to return from Denmark early in August.
He believes that for Danish domestic reasons consultations should begin shortly after his return here although those consultations need not be hurried after initiation.
recommendations
It is recommended that the Secretary impress upon the Danish Ambassador the great strategic importance of Greenland to the United States and urge him to persuade his Government of the desirability of concluding with this country an arrangement for joint defense of Greenland.
- The attachment is not printed here; for the text of the statement by the Secretary of State, see the memorandum by Morgan, May 31, p. 663.↩
- Attachment 2, not here printed, was the text of the memorandum which the Secretary of State handed to Foreign Minister Rasmussen at the close of their conversation in New York on December 14, 1946; see footnote 3, p. 657.↩
- Brackets appear in the original.↩
- Maj. Gen. Lauris Norstad, Director of Plans and Operations, War Department General Staff.↩
- Vice Adm. Forrest P. Sherman, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations.↩