Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Western Europe, Volume VII, Part 2

204. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

Rome, January 14, 1958.

PARTICIPANTS

• Minister of Defense Taviani
• Mr. Charles E. Rogers, Special Assistant, MDA
• Colonel Dawson, Special Assistant to the Chief of MAAG

SUBJECT

• Possible Public Statement by the Minister of Defense Regarding Presence in Italy of Atomic Weapons

Colonel Dawson and I called on Minister Taviani this morning at 11:00 for the purpose of informing him of the Department’s views as contained in Deptel 2723¹ regarding a possible public statement by the Defense Minister concerning the presence in Italy of atomic weapons.

After oral presentation of the Department’s views we left a copy of a translation of the last two paragraphs of the reference telegram for his information. Minister Taviani stated that the Department’s point of view was very helpful and came at an opportune time since he planned to meet with the Parliamentary Commission for Defense on January 24 and will be subject to questioning as regards Italy’s role in the new defense plans. While the meeting of the Parliamentary Commission is not public it is participated in by representatives of the Communist and Left Wing parties, who, it may be anticipated, will attempt to create unfavorable propaganda concerning the subject. For this reason he is carefully preparing the statements which he plans to make with a view to their publication and to forestall Communist attack and distortion. He said that he would avoid any statement to the effect that atomic weapons were stored in Italy if this were at all possible, but that if asked a direct and precise question on this subject he would state that there were atomic weapons present in Europe, as is well known. If pressed as to their presence in Italy he would confirm that they had been in Italy for some time but refuse further comment on the grounds that their exact whereabouts constitute a military secret. In making this confirmation Minister Taviani said that he would attempt to dispel any alarm concerning the presence of atomic weapons in Italy by pointing out the fact that since they had been in Italy for some time without any harm resulting or any accidents occurring, that it was perfectly safe to have them there. While this tactic will not forestall Communist propaganda, it should prove reassuring to the non-Communist voters.

The Minister considers that there is a good chance that he will not be questioned closely on the above points since he anticipates that interest will be concentrated on the problem of the deployment of missiles as discussed in Paris.² Since he is apprehensive of the affects of Communist propaganda on this subject in the pre-election period, he is preparing a somewhat fuller presentation concerning it. He indicated that the position of the Italian Government had been made more difficult by the refusal of Norway and Denmark to permit IRBM’s to be stationed on their territory as well as by the German statement that its close proximity to the Iron Curtain renders such weapons undesirable. Taviani’s presentation will refer to the tactical and short range missiles which have been promised to Italy under the MDA Program and which he will stress will be of great value for local defense. The question of the deployment of IRBM’s to Italy, he will point out, is still somewhat hypothetical since the weapons themselves do not yet exist. In any event, as a result of his interchange with General Norstad (reported in the Paris telegram to the Department 3272 of January 10),³ Taviani will state that the question is one of equipping Italian forces with these new weapons and not one of establishing United States IRBM bases in Italy. This will enable him further to point out, if it becomes necessary, that although the United States will retain possession of the atomic warheads for the IRBM’s the missiles themselves will be manned by Italians and their use therefore entirely subject to Italian control.

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 765.5612/1–1758. Secret. Drafted by Rogers. Transmitted to the Department of State as an enclosure to despatch 877, January 17.
1. Document 203.
2. On January 24, Taviani announced to the Commission on Defense the Italian Government’s decision to station IRBM missiles in Italy. His statement concentrated on the issue of Italian control of the missiles. The issue of nuclear warheads and their control was not brought up by the opposition.
3. Telegram 3272 from Paris reported that the Italian military representative at NATO asked Norstad if Taviani could state that no U.S.-manned IRBM missiles were scheduled for emplacement in Italy and that if missiles were put into Italy they would be manned by Italian troops. Norstad replied that no final plans had been made but that if a decision were made to station missiles in Italy they would be Italian-manned. (Department of State, Central Files, 711.56365/1–1058)