Office of the Historian

124.66/3–1550: Telegram

The Minister in Romania (Schoenfeld) to the Secretary of State

confidential
Bucharest, March 15, 1950—5 p. m.

185. I fully concur in inference expressed in last paragraph urtel 86, March 14, 6 p. m., namely, voluntary depletion complement Rumanian Legation Washington during visa impasse suggests Rumanians do not regard maintenance their mission of comparable importance to restriction or exclusion our representation in Rumania.1

Whole attitude here is one of rigid intransigence and active hostilities and I am still of opinion as stated in mytel 824, December 11, 8 p. m.2 Kremlin would like to see us out.

While varied restrictions, chicanery and pressure designed to prevent effective operation of this mission and to hamper and breakdown individual staff members have long been common practice here, these measures have been greatly intensified in recent months and it is manifest increasing efforts are being made to force our hand.

As regards staff I believe as stated in mytel 62, January 302 that we can look for no relaxation in foreseeable future; that we are unlikely to receive even a reply to our recent note re staff (mytel 176, March 143), and that after expiration of fortnight suggested for reply [Page 1058] we shall at best have to move toward skeleton status envisaged in urtel 54, February 24.4

Schoenfeld
  1. The other portion of the telegram summarized here reported that Vlad Mardarescu, Counselor of the Romanian Legation in Washington, was being reassigned, leaving only two officers in the Romanian Legation: Minister Mihail Magheru and Third Secretary Ion Nitescu (601.6611/3–1450).↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. Not printed.↩
  4. Not printed; it reported the delivery of the note of March 14 to the Romanian Foreign Minister, supra (124.66/3–1450).↩
  5. Not printed.↩