Office of the Historian

840.00/3–348: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Belgium

top secret
us urgent
Washington, March 3, 1948—6 p. m.

313. In connection current Western Union talks1 we would be much interested in learning views of participating govts on (1) possibility of including Italy in immediate future and (2) how they contemplate meeting problem of fifth column aggression on Czech model.2

Sent Brussels; reptd Lond as 734, Paris as 680 and The Hague as 86.

Marshall
  1. The Benelux Prime Ministers assembled in Brussels on February 20 and were joined on March 4 by representatives of France and Great Britain.↩
  2. Bidault remarked in connection with the first point: “I have no objection.” (Telegram 1160, March 4, from Paris, not printed: 840.00/3–448.) Van Boetzelaer informed the American Ambassador in the Netherlands, Herman B. Baruch, that he would like to see included in the Western Union all those nations which held the same views of democracy, west of the Iron Curtain. He said further that he did not consider fifth column infiltration a serious danger in the Netherlands, but that the country was prepared to meet any such occurrence forcefully with all means at its disposal. (Telegram 148, March 4, from The Hague, not printed: 840.00/3–448.) The Foreign Office in London informed Douglas that it was urgently considering both points but as yet had no definitive views. (Telegram 886, March 5, from London, not printed: 840.00/3–548.)↩