Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, Eastern Europe; The Soviet Union, Volume IV

860H.00/1–1547: Telegram

The Chargé in Yugoslavia (Hickok) to the Secretary of State

secret

Belgrade, January 15, 1947—3 p. m.

45. Embtel 43, January 14.¹ The text of Foreign Office note 4601 of January 14 follows:

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presents its compliments to the US Embassy, and with reference to the Embassy’s note No. 13 of January 10, 1947 and to the personal letter of the Chargé d’Affaires to the Prime Minister of the Government of the FPRY,² has the honor to state the following:

The Yugoslav Government rejects the protest of the US Government as being unfounded. Both in the course of the whole investigation, and during the trial the accused insisted that they had been working in accordance with instructions from certain members of the staff of the American Embassy in Belgrade, and that they had been receiving money from members of the American Embassy’s staff for their treasonable activities.

Besides, documents and material proofs, which are irrefutable evidence of the subversive terroristic nature of the activities in which the accused had been engaged were not produced at the trial, nor was the fact that the latter had received those means from certain members of the American Embassy’s staff.

The latter fact was not mentioned at the public trial because it was not relevant for the establishing of the guilt of the accused, and because the Yugoslav Government endeavored as a friendly gesture to avoid making public the material which was not of importance as concerns the passing of the sentence.

Also, the Yugoslav Government informed Ambassador Patterson, even while the investigation was still in progress, of the evidence against the members of the Embassy staff, so as to make it possible, by this friendly gesture, for the Government of the US to investigate the activities of its officials and define its attitude.

The Yugoslav Government, has thus shown the greatest comity and delicacy in this matter, and noted with regret that the American Embassy failed to react in any way to the information made available to it.

The Yugoslav Government agrees with the Government of the US that the members of the American Embassy’s staff involved cannot in future carry on their functions in the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. It will accordingly hand in to the American Embassy a list of their names at a very early date.³

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the American Embassy the assurance of its high consideration.”

Hickok

1. Not printed; it reported on the newspaper announcements of the executions of Stefanovich, Sushin, and Jovanovich (860H.00/1–1447).
2. Ante, p. 748.
3. Telegram 68, January 24, from Belgrade, not printed, reported that all those persons who would probably be listed by the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry would have departed from Yugoslavia by the end of January 1947 (860H.00/1–2447).