840.811/8–948: Telegram
The Ambassador in Yugoslavia (Cannon) to the Secretary of State
Deldu 43. General Committee of Danube Conference met this morning with Thierry in chair. Decision was taken to admit press and public except to meetings which committee might decide to close. Vishinsky in effect reversed his position of last Saturday (Deldu 41, August 8), although he said then that decision would be up to committee. Department will realize admission of public must be taken in very restricted sense since Yugoslav police do not permit man in street to get within a block of the Conference building.
Deadline for amendments is ten o’clock tonight. As committee could not profitably begin discussion of convention without amendments before it, session adjourned to Tuesday morning.1 We are consulting today with British and French on tactics in proposing amendments.
Delegation will cable texts of our amendments as soon as they are in finished form.2
Sent Department Deldu 43, repeated London 155; Paris.145.
- It had been decided that amendments to the Soviet draft convention must be submitted by 10 p. m., on August 9, with their distribution taking place overnight so that the work of the General Committee could proceed at its second session on Tuesday morning, August 10. Secretary General Leo Mattes nonetheless had to explain some delay in the transmittal of the amendments because those of the United States delegation had been submitted in English, which had to be translated into an official language of the conference.↩
- The text of the amendments was sent in telegram Deldu 45 from Belgrade on August 9, and their approval was contained in telegram 476, Dudel 35, sent from the Department of State on August 11, 1948.↩