840.811/7–1948

The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Franks)

The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the British Ambassador and has the honor to refer to his note No. 378 of July 19, 19481 inquiring whether the United States Government shares the view of the British Government that the presence of observers from the United Nations would be welcome at the Danube Conference, and if so, whether the United States Government would be ready to instruct its representative in Belgrade to join with his three colleagues in requesting the Yugoslav Government to issue an invitation to the Secretary General of the United Nations2 to send observers to the Conference.

The Secretary of State is happy to inform the British Ambassador that the United States Government shares the view of the British Government that the presence of observers from the United Nations would be welcome at the Conference. Accordingly, the United States Government has instructed its Representative to the United Nations3 so to inform the Secretary General of the United Nations, and has instructed its representative in Belgrade to join with the representatives of the United Kingdom, France and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in requesting the Yugoslav Government to issue an invitation to the Secretary General to send observers to the Conference.4

  1. Not printed.
  2. Trygve H. Lie.
  3. Warren R. Austin.
  4. The British Embassy communicated to the Department of State the reply received from the Soviet government to the British suggestion that the United Nations should be represented at the Danube conference. The Soviet government had rejected this proposal because the Council of Foreign Ministers had made no arrangements for the presence of the United Nations at the conference, and the peace treaties had included no provisions for United Nations participation. Furthermore, there had been no such invitations for United Nations presence at other international meetings. This negative response by the Soviet Union was sent for the information of the United States delegation in telegram 424, Dudel 3, to Belgrade on July 30, 1948, at noon (840.811/7–3048).