740.00119 Council/3–1248: Telegram
The United States Deputy for Austria at the Council of Foreign Ministers (Reber) to the Secretary of State
1019. Delsec 1633. From Reber. Gruber last night handed me a memorandum1 outlining the views of the Austrian Cabinet on recent events in Czechoslovakia and their effect upon the present treaty negotiations. The Cabinet conclusions are that the Austrian Government is in a position to maintain internal peace and order and, short of a general war, to insure the integrity of Austrian frontiers, provided (a) that the police and gendarmerie are furnished modern equipment and (b) that the military clauses of the treaty are satisfactorily settled to insure full liberty in the selection of arms permitted by Annex II of the treaty.
Whereas the Austrian Government still considers the speedy conclusion of the treaty desirable, it is nevertheless of the opinion that no concessions should be made regarding the essential elements of an acceptable settlement which are: (1) agreement on military clauses as above, (2) at the time of signature of the treaty, at the latest, the Austrian Government to be authorized by the Allied Council in Vienna immediately to start preparations for the formation of the federal army, (3) the economic clauses to be formulated in such a way (a) as to secure the oil requirements of a domestic market (b) in stipulating the yearly installments so as to give due regard to Austria’s over-all political and economic situation and not to endanger the economic existence of the country, (4) food requirements to be assured for the immediate future. Copies of this memorandum being airmailed.
Gruber explained that, although his Government still hoped for a successful outcome for the present negotiations, the position taken by the Soviet representative did not, in their opinion, indicate that this was likely. If the conference broke down because of the insistence of the western powers upon adequate guarantees for Austrian independence, this would be understood in Austria. He did express the hope that, before a final break this time, one further effort should be made to have the Soviets express themselves in regard to the remaining clauses of the treaty so that their position on the whole treaty could be understood and appreciated. In the event of such a failure he again urged, as in Vienna’s 284, March 7,1 that the western occupying powers, preferably jointly, agree with the Austrian Government on a coordination of policies in the western zones which would give the Austrian Government greater authority and return to it as many of the [Page 1478] remaining functions still exercised by the occupation forces as feasible.
Sent Department 1019; repeated Vienna 27.