Office of the Historian
No. 589

663.001/11–3051: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in Austria 1

secret
Washington, November 30, 1951—4:40 p.m.

1373. For Donnelly. In light tripartite discussion Aust treaty Secto 101 Nov 28, rptd London 246, Paris 336, Vienna 60, Frankfort 99,2 consideration shld be given to program for forthcoming Deputies’ mtg. In our view fol program wld fulfill current tripartite agreement.

1.
US Deputy shld call mtg, either by utilizing existing procedure through CFM Secretariat in London or by US dipl notes to other three powers since chairmanship in our hands. Dept is inclined to prefer latter method. We believe mtg shld be timed for shortly after beginning of year. Intervening time might be utilized to seek further clarification of tripartite position on text of abbreviated treaty as well as to allow decent interval between press leaks on this subj and any future action we may take. If no further leaks occur we believe postponing mtg until new year wld permit speculation on this subj to die down.
2.
If Sov Deputy in mtg reacts as expected, either by referring to previous Sov position or by introduction of Trieste or other irrelevant issues, to suspend mtg with announcement that matter has been referred to respective govts for consideration. West Deputies cld continue to meet to work out exact position on abbreviated Treaty and possible White Paper or any other alternative proposed by Brit and Fr as well as to plan future action.

Dept assumes that no further discussion of tactics for next mtg is required other than agreement reached in Rome Ministerial mtg. [Page 1183] We assume that Brit and Fr wld not proceed on basis of proposing acceptance of Sov terms unagreed arts in light Secy’s position on this question.

We wld appreciate your comments on timing and method of notifying Sovs of proposed mtg and staff required for mtg.3

Webb
  1. Drafted by Williamson and cleared with EE and Bonbright. Repeated for action to Bonn for Reber, London, Paris, and Moscow.↩
  2. Supra.↩
  3. In telegram 585 from Bonn, December 2, Reber stated that the next meeting of the Austrian Deputies should be governed by the requirements of Austrian opinion. He informed the Department of his decision to use the existing procedure through the CFM Secretariat in London because this was more in keeping with the idea of the continuity of the meetings. (663.001/12–251)↩