Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, Volume X, Part 2

230. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

Washington, January 6, 1958.

SUBJECT

• Greece: Economic Aid

PARTICIPANTS

• Ambassador George V. Melas of Greece
• Mr. C. Douglas Dillon, Deputy Under Secretary
• Mr. L. Bruce Laingen, GTI

Mr. Melas said that since the time when he had requested to see Mr. Dillon his government had been officially informed of the level of our economic aid to Greece in FY 1958.¹ He, therefore, only wished to say today that although the aid to be provided fell short of his government’s expectation, it was his personal view that the United States had made a prompt and honest effort to meet as many of the Greek requirements as possible. He wished to reiterate, however, that his government had hoped that the defense support would be at the same level as in FY 1957.²

Mr. Dillon pointed out that in determining aid levels for FY 1958 we were faced with a particularly difficult problem because of the large cuts made by Congress in appropriations. Therefore, we were forced to do otherwise than we might have liked to do under more favorable circumstances.

Mr. Melas said he wished to take the opportunity to mention several projects for which his government hoped to obtain financial assistance under the Development Loan Fund. He hoped that Mr. Dillon would regard his listing of these projects as an official request. Mr. Melas named the following four projects:

1. Fertilizer Plant at Ptolemais

2. The National Highway from Athens north to Salonika and on to the Yugoslav border

3. Thermo-electric Plant at Ptolemais

4. Electric Power and Irrigation Dam on the Akheloos

Mr. Melas said these projects add up to a sizable sum, somewhere around $75 million. He said this would, of course, be spread over a two to three year period.

Mr. Dillon thanked the Ambassador for this information and said it would be helpful to have this list of projects available in connection with requests made to Congress for FY 1959. He told the Ambassador that specific requests for assistance under the Fund should be made directly to the offices of the Fund itself.

Note: After leaving Mr. Dillon’s office the Ambassador again expressed to Mr. Laingen appreciation for the amount of aid being extended in FY 1958. He said he was personally convinced that the amount provided, particularly for military consumables and for uniforms, was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Dillon following conversations on this subject between him and Greek officials in Paris.³

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 781.5–MSP/1–658. Confidential. Drafted by Laingen on January 7 and initialed by Dillon.
1. On January 4, Williams informed Phedon Cavalierato, Counselor of the Greek Embassy, that Greece would receive $15 million in defense assistance, all on a grant basis. A memorandum of Williams’ conversation with Cavalierato is ibid., 781.5–MSP/1–458.
2. $25 million.
3. The Department of State summarized Dillon’s December 17 talks with Greek Minister of Finance Protopapadakis in telegram 2084 to Athens, January 3. (Department of State, Central Files, 781.5–MSP/1–358)