351. National Security Action Memorandum No. 2570
MEMORANDUM FOR
- The Secretary of State
- The Secretary of Defense
- The Administrator, Agency for International Development
SUBJECT
- Aide-memoire for Greece
I approve the proposed Aide-memoire submitted by the AID Administrator concerning U.S. assistance to Greece,1 with one exception. Since we have not yet resolved the question of the appropriate long term “mix” of our aid to Greece (as required by NSC Action 2447),2 and since we do not know how much our aid appropriations will be cut, I do not believe that we should make even an implicit commitment to continue MAP at a level which the accompanying memorandum suggests would be around $100 million annually. It seems to me quite sufficient to indicate that we propose “to continue a substantial program of grant military assistance”, instead of saying that we at present contemplate no reduction.
When we present this Aide-memoire, we should use the occasion to underscore the U.S. view, that, above the present level of defense effort, [Page 680] Greece should give top priority to an intensified development effort. As I told Mr. Papaligouras, “we don’t want to push Greek military expenditures to the point where they take away from economic development.”
Because U.S. representatives in the past have spoken with conflicting voices, I wish steps taken to insure that all concerned, including our NATO military people, are aware of and actively support the position in the Aide-memoire with respect to Greek defense budgets.
- Source: Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 72 D 316, NSAM 257. Confidential.↩
- Not found.↩
- See footnote 1, Document 329.↩