Office of the Historian
No. 507

763.0221/9–751

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs ( Perkins) to the Ambassador at Large ( Jessup)1

secret
Washington, September 7, 1951.

Subject: Soviet Repatriation Mission in the French Zone of Austria

[Page 1064]

Background

The Soviet repatriation mission in the U.S. zone of Austria was expelled on June 9, 1951 without serious retaliation on the part of the Soviets.2 The Soviet repatriation mission in the British zone was terminated on August 23 of this year without serious retaliation as yet. The French thus far have refused to expel the Soviet repatriation mission from their zone in Austria, apparently because of the fear of retaliation. The French have indicated their reluctance to oust the Soviet mission in their zone because of the fact that Schuman has a personal interest in French POW’s whom a French mission in Moscow is still trying to repatriate. Because the Soviet mission exists largely for espionage and propaganda activities, its presence in the French zone is a menace to the achievement of Western policies, particularly those dealing with the training and equipping of Austrian internal security forces.

A representative of CIA called at the Department today to stress the interest of that agency in having the Soviet mission expelled from the French zone of Austria. He said that information has been received from Paris to the effect that the French position can be changed only by personal action on the part of Schuman. His agency recommends that Schuman be approached on this subject during his current visit in the United States.3

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Secretary, at an opportune moment, raise this issue with Schuman informally with a view to having the French take early action to expel the Soviet repatriation mission from the French zone of Austria.4

  1. Drafted by Allen and cleared with Williamson and Bonbright.↩
  2. The correspondence exchanged between the U.S. High Commissioner for Austria, Donnelly, and the Soviet High Commissioner for Austria, Sviridov, concerning the removal of the Soviet repatriation mission is summarized and printed in part in Department of State Bulletin, June 25, 1951, pp. 1019–1020.↩
  3. Schuman was in Washington to attend the Tripartite Foreign Ministers meetings, September 10–14. For documentation on these meetings, see vol. iii, Part 1, pp. 1163 ff.↩
  4. A handwritten notation in the margin stated that the Secretary had discussed this with Schuman.↩