258. Editorial Note
On May 6, NATO Headquarters in Paris announced that the United States and Greece had signed bilateral agreements providing for the exchange of nuclear information of a military nature and for the training of Greek troops in the use of guided missiles and other nuclear weapons systems. The agreements did not provide for the establishment of U.S. missile bases in Greece. However, the announcement followed the December 1957 decision of NATO Ministers to place U.S. intermediate [Page 659] range ballistic missiles in Europe and the agreement with the Government of Italy for the establishment of IRBM bases. On May 8, the Bulgarian Government protested the agreement with Greece, and on May 14 the Soviet Union delivered a formal note of protest to the Greek Government. On May 20, in a note to the Greek Government, the Bulgarian Government revived proposals for the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the Balkans.
Pressure on the Greek Government to renounce its agreement with the United States increased in late May. Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev visited Albania May 25–June 6 and, in a series of speeches, threatened Greece, Italy, and other NATO nations with destruction for accepting U.S. missiles. In a speech on May 28 in Korytsa, a town along the Albanian border with Greece, Khrushchev coupled warnings against the introduction of U.S. nuclear arms with suggestions that Greece join the proposed Balkan nuclear-free zone and quit NATO. Karamanlis rejected Khrushchev’s proposals in a speech given the same day.
On June 14, President Eisenhower sent the U.S.-Greek agreements to Congress. For texts, see Congressional Record, volume 105, pages 100028 and 10030. Simultaneously, the U.S. and Greek Governments announced that the Greek Army would be supplied with short-range missiles capable of carrying atomic warheads.