601.01/10–2351
The Acting Secretary of State to the Italian Ambassador (Tarchiani)
The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Ambassador of Italy and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Ambassador’s communication of October 23, [Page 1307] 19511 in which he informed the Secretary that the Italian Government has for reasons of reciprocity decided to adopt measures restricting the liberty of movement of members of the diplomatic representations of certain Eastern European countries.
As the Ambassador is aware the United States Government, also on a reciprocal basis, applied travel restrictions to members of the Rumanian Legation and their families, effective May 22, 1950.2 Similar restrictions have been extended to apply to the staff of the Hungarian Legation and their families as a result of limitations placed by the Hungarian Government on the travel of the staff of the American Legation in Budapest.3
The United States Government believes the application of such restrictions on a reciprocal basis to be a sound means of impressing upon the governments which initiated this policy that they may not violate diplomatic customs and courtesy with impunity. The United States Government is pleased to learn that the Italian Government has taken retaliatory action.
- The note under reference stated that the measures adopted by Italy on October 5 required Hungarian and Romanian diplomats and members of their families to obtain special authorization to travel beyond a zone which included the city of Rome, a portion of the Italian coast, the province of Rome, and portions of the provinces of Latina, Frosionne, and Viterbo. (601.01/10–2351)↩
- Regarding travel restrictions imposed in October 1950 upon members of the Romanian Legation, see the editorial note, Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. iv, p. 1072.↩
- Regarding the reciprocal restrictions imposed upon U.S. and Hungarian diplomats in January 1951, see Documents 724 ff.↩