147. Telegram From the Embassy in France to the Department of State0
5193. Geneva for Eaton. Department pass Defense for Irwin. Noforn from Thurston. Embed 5142.1 There were no surprises in General Norstad’s two-hour session with Chancellor Adenauer yesterday.2 Except for initial allusion by Adenauer to Khrushchev’s Supreme Soviet speech and airplane incident, discussion was devoted entirely to European control and inspection plan. Von Brentano, Strauss and Heusinger were present, as well as Ambassador Dowling.
Norstad spoke from briefing charts and carefully stressed military advantages of plan. Chancellor was very attentive throughout and interrupted frequently with questions and observations of both political and military import. These were all of a critical or negative nature. Norstad avoided being drawn into discussion of political factors, including those relating to German domestic politics. Despite fact that throughout discussion Chancellor took uniformly unfavorable position, atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and Adenauer made point of his friendly feeling towards and respect for SACEUR. At very end of session Adenauer expressed his gratitude to Norstad for coming and said that it had given him “food for thought.” Meeting broke up on note struck by Strauss that plans of this kind will be requiring continuous consideration and that further discussion of this one might well take place at some time in the future. Full account of discussion being airmailed to recipients this message.3
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 600.00121/5–660. Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution. Repeated to Bonn, London, and Geneva.↩
- Dated May 4, telegram 5142 from Paris reported that Brentano would discuss the inspection plan for Central Europe with Norstad on May 5. (Ibid., 600.00121/5–460)↩
- The meeting took place at Bonn on May 5.↩
- An 8-page memorandum of this conversation is in Department of State, Central Files, 600.0012/5–560.↩