740.00119 Council/12–2447: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Belgium
40. Embtel 2040 Dec. 24.1 We appreciate Spaak’s speaking so frankly and share his concern.
[For other portions of this telegram, see page 358. The final section, printed below, answers a request in telegram No. 2040 for reassurance concerning the military security of Western Europe, which might be passed on to the Belgian Foreign Minister.]
(4) Constitutional, traditional and material factors make reassurance on security difficult. We have just ratified Treaty of Rio de Janeiro2 which Spaak might be interested in reading. Our four power draft treaty3 to insure disarmament of Germany was on agenda at London but was not reached for discussion. We have no reason to expect any change in Soviet opposition to it. Without participation all four powers this draft loses reality and would not go to heart present European security problems. General German settlement will involve questions as to what three Western powers can do to increase security Western Europe. We would favor widening this to include participation other Western European countries if satisfactory way to do this can be found. (This should be confidential for Spaak only for present as we have not yet discussed this question with Brit or French.)
In talking Spaak along foregoing lines you should emphasize that we welcome any ideas he wishes to offer at any time and would welcome even more such leadership as he may exert in CEEC matters.
- In telegram 2040 from Brussels, Chargé Hugh Millard reported the views of Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, concerning European economic and military cooperation. (740.00119 Council/12–2447)↩
- Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, opened for signature at Rio de Janeiro September 2, 1947. For text, see Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 1835, or 62 Stat. (pt. 2) 1681.↩
- For text of this treaty, originally submitted to the Council of Foreign Ministers in April 1946, see Department of State Bulletin, May 12, 1946, p. 815. For documentation, see Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. ii, pp. 190–193.↩