131. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Wilcox) to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Kohler)1
SUBJECT
- Soviet Request that US Support Nosek for GA President
The Soviet Delegation in New York and the Czechs, both here and in New York, have been informed of our decision to support Boland for President of the 15th General Assembly. In view of Mr. Merchant’s statement to the Soviet Ambassador on February 232 that we would give the Ambassador “a considered reply either orally or in writing” to his request that we support Nosek, I suggest that I call in the Ambassador and reply orally along the following lines:
As Mr. Merchant had agreed, the Ambassador’s request that the US support Nosek for President of the 15th General Assembly has been considered in light of the arguments the Ambassador had advanced and we see no reason to reverse our earlier decision to support Boland, of which the Soviet Delegation in New York was informed by our Mission there on February 3.3
It might be reiterated that we know of no Charter provision calling for equitable geographic distribution of the GA presidency and that in our view geographic distribution is only one of a number of factors that should be taken into account in selecting the Assembly’s President.4
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320/2–2960. Confidential. Initialed by Wilcox and copies distributed to Nunley and McSweeney. No drafting information appears on the source text.↩
- A memorandum of Merchant’s conversation with Menshikov is ibid., 320/2–2360.↩
- On March 4, Wilcox informed Menshikov that although the Department had reexamined U.S. support for Boland in light of Menshikov’s conversation with Merchant, it saw no reason to change its position. Menshikov expressed his regret at this decision. The question of geographical distribution of the General Assembly presidency was not discussed. (Ibid., 320/3–460)↩
- Kohler initialed agreement on the source text.↩