43. Telegram From the Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Regional Organizations to the Department of State0
Paris, November
17, 1958, 5 p.m.
Polto 1325. At private NAC meeting today on Berlin, NAC heard evaluations by Germany, U.S., U.K. and France and discussed German report note to Soviets on 4-power consultation delivered today.
Meeting being reported in full.1 Following are highlights:
- 1.
- There was strong pressure from all members and chairman for fullest use of consultative process in North Atlantic Council on all matters connected with Berlin situation and broader context of other related Soviet moves connected with Central European area, e.g., New Rapacki Plan.2 [3 lines of source text not declassified] While special role of three [Page 81] Western powers recognized, strongly expressed consensus was that this was no substitute for NATO consultation. Stikker3 made key point that other NATO members have associated themselves with position of three powers in Berlin and are thus directly interested.
- 2.
- Sense of meeting was that West should stand firm against Soviet moves but should use utmost wisdom and soundest deliberation to avoid provocation of incidents which Soviet seems to be seeking to have West “initiate.” In our judgment this discussion bears on handling of Babelsberg incident which was simply reported factually.
Burgess
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762.00/11–1758. Secret; Niact. Repeated to Bonn, Berlin, and London.↩
- Polto 1333 from Paris, November 17. (Ibid.)↩
- The Rapacki Plan, first proposed by Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly on October 2, 1957, and subsequently renewed through diplomatic channels, called for the establishment of a denuclearized zone in Poland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany. See vol. X, Part 1, Document 12.↩
- Dirk U. Stikker, Dutch Permanent Representative at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.↩