Preface

The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. The Historian of the Department of State is charged with the responsibility for the preparation of the Foreign Relations series. The staff of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, under the direction of the General Editor of the Foreign Relations series, plans, researches, compiles, and edits the volumes in the series. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg first promulgated official regulations codifying specific standards for the selection and editing of documents for the series on March 26, 1925. These regulations, with minor modifications, guided the series through 1991.

Public Law 102–138, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, established a new statutory charter for the preparation of the series which was signed by President George H.W. Bush on October 28, 1991. Section 198 of P.L. 102–138 added a new Title IV to the Department of Stateʼs Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 USC 4351, et seq.).

The statute requires that the Foreign Relations series be a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant United States diplomatic activity. The volumes of the series should include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation of major foreign policy decisions and actions of the United States Government. The statute also confirms the editing principles established by Secretary Kellogg: the Foreign Relations series is guided by the principles of historical objectivity and accuracy; records should not be altered or deletions made without indicating in the published text that a deletion has been made; the published record should omit no facts that were of major importance in reaching a decision; and nothing should be omitted for the purposes of concealing a defect in policy. The statute also requires that the Foreign Relations series be published not more than 30 years after the events recorded. The editors are convinced that this volume meets all regulatory, statutory, and scholarly standards of selection and editing.

Structure and Scope of the Foreign Relations Series

This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. The subseries presents in multiple volumes a comprehensive documentary record of major foreign policy decisions and actions of both administrations. This specific volume documents the U.S. policy towards Eastern Europe and [Page IV] the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey, 1969–1972. While the editors believe this volume basically stands on its own, the Eastern Europe section is best read in conjunction with the chapter on East-West trade in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. IV, Foreign Assistance, International Development, and Trade Policies, 1969–1972. For its part, the section on the Eastern Mediterranean can be read in conjunction with the section on the European Region (including NATO) in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. XLI, Western Europe; NATO, 1969–1972.

Volume XXIX is the last print volume to document Eastern Europe during the Nixon-Ford administrations. For 1973–1976, coverage of Eastern Europe has been combined with Western Europe in an Internet-only volume, Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. E–15, Documents on Western and Eastern Europe. The Eastern Mediterranean for 1973–1976 will be covered in a print volume, Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Vol. XXX, Greece; Cyprus; Turkey, 1973–1976.

Focus of Research and Principles of Selection for Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXIX

The coverage of this volume is split almost equally between Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Eastern Europe section begins with a general chapter that covers the entire Soviet bloc region and deals almost exclusively with U.S. efforts to liberalize and expand trade with Eastern Europe. The second chapter is also a general one. It deals with U.S. Government policy and the bureaucratic debate about—and ultimately, the decision on how to fund—Radio Free Europe (the U.S.-directed—and clandestinely funded—broadcasting service aimed at Eastern Europe), and Radio Liberty (a similar service aimed at the Soviet Union). The remainder of the Eastern Europe section of the volume comprises eight chapters on U.S. bilateral relations with Soviet bloc Eastern European countries, as well as with Austria and Finland. Bilateral relations with Eastern Europe were limited and generally carried out at the Department of State level, but there was a considerable amount of interest by the White House—and on the part of President Nixon—in certain Eastern European countries. President Nixon developed a close relationship with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu. As the most independent member of the Eastern bloc, Yugoslavia also interested the White House. Nixon visited Romania and Yugoslavia, and Ceausescu and Yugoslav President Josip Tito visited Washington, DC, during the period of the volume. President Urho Kekkonen of Finland had a close relationship with the Soviet leadership, which the Nixon administration found useful when the Finnish President visited Washington. Although not always prominently documented, there is evidence in this volume that the Nixon administrationʼs relations with Eastern Europe were motivated in part by political [Page V] considerations, essentially the voting power of Polish-American and other Eastern European ethnic Americans, who made up a significant part of the population of the Midwest.

The countries covered in the three chapters on the Eastern Mediterranean generally have a much higher profile than the countries covered in the chapters on Eastern Europe, and indicate a strong Presidential and White House interest in events and policies there. This is particularly true for Greece. When President Nixon took office in 1969, he ordered a review of U.S. policy, and he subsequently sent to Athens a new Ambassador, Henry Tasca, to reassess relations with Greece, an important NATO ally. Tasca reported that the military junta that ruled Greece was there to stay for the immediate future and that the symbolic U.S. suspension of military aid and sales was undermining Greeceʼs security. The result was a Presidential decision to lift the suspension on aid and an understanding that Tasca would use this concession to the junta to push it towards constitutional reform and eventual democratic elections. The role of Vice President Spiro Agnew and businessman Tom Pappas in helping to shape U.S. policy toward Greece is documented in this chapter, especially through use of the White House tapes.

The Cyprus chapter is a continuation of the Foreign Relations seriesʼ longstanding coverage of the ongoing dispute on that island between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, which was overlaid with tensions between the governments in Athens and Ankara. The basic policy, which the Department of State had been following for years, was to attempt to expedite an intercommunal solution that would remove the conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots as a bone of contention between two NATO allies, Greece and Turkey. When Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios purchased a substantial quantity of arms and ammunition from Czechoslovakia, Cyprus was plunged into a crisis, which pit Makarios against the Greeks and the Greek Cypriots who favored union with Greece. At that point, the mechanism for directing day-to-day policy toward Cyprus became the Washington Special Actions Group, an interagency National Security Council sub-group, chaired by the Presidentʼs Special Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger, which was charged with the coordination of U.S. policy towards crises. It would be Kissingerʼs introduction to an international crisis that would be impervious to his considerable negotiating skills and eventually frustrate him greatly.

The final chapter of the volume is primarily about U.S. efforts to discourage Turkish narcotics production. President Nixonʼs interest in suppressing the international trade in narcotics generated a high-level dialogue with Ankara about the countryʼs opium production. The U.S.-Turkish dialogue on Cyprus, as with the U.S.-Greek discussions about [Page VI] the island nation, has been placed in the Cyprus chapter. In fact, these last three chapters on Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey should be read together, since they are closely interrelated.

Like all recent Foreign Relations volumes, the emphasis of this volume is on policy formulation and on important events in international relations, rather than on the implementation of that policy or the day-to-day diplomacy. President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger, still dominate the policy process in some key areas, but the role of Secretary of State William Rogers, the Department of State bureaucracy, and, in the case of Greece, Vice President Agnew, are significant.

Editorial Methodology

The documents are presented chronologically according to Washington time. Memoranda of conversation are placed according to the time and date of the conversation, rather than the date the memorandum was drafted.

Editorial treatment of the documents published in the Foreign Relations series follows Office style guidelines, supplemented by guidance from the General Editor. The documents are reproduced as exactly as possible, including marginalia or other notations, which are described in the footnotes. Texts are transcribed and printed according to accepted conventions for the publication of historical documents within the limitations of modern typography. A heading has been supplied by the editors for each document included in the volume. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are retained as found in the original text, except that obvious typographical errors are silently corrected. Other mistakes and omissions in the documents are corrected by bracketed insertions: a correction is set in italic type; an addition in roman type. Words or phrases underlined in the source text are printed in italics. Abbreviations and contractions are preserved as found in the original text, and a list of abbreviations is included in the front matter of each volume.

Bracketed insertions are also used to indicate omitted text that deals with an unrelated subject (in roman type) or that remains classified after declassification review (in italic type). The amount and, where possible, the nature of the material not declassified has been noted by indicating the number of lines or pages of text that were omitted. Entire documents withheld for declassification purposes have been accounted for and are listed with headings, source notes, and number of pages not declassified in their chronological place. All brackets that appear in the original text are so identified in footnotes. All ellipses are in the original documents.

The first footnote to each document indicates the source of the document, original classification, distribution, and drafting information. [Page VII] This note also provides the background of important documents and policies and indicates whether the President or his major policy advisers read the document.

Editorial notes and additional annotation summarize pertinent material not printed in the volume, indicate the location of additional documentary sources, provide references to important related documents printed in other volumes, describe key events, and provide summaries of and citations to public statements that supplement and elucidate the printed documents. Information derived from memoirs and other first-hand accounts has been used when appropriate to supplement or explicate the official record.

The numbers in the index refer to document numbers rather than to page numbers.

Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation

The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, established under the Foreign Relations statute, reviews records, advises, and makes recommendations concerning the Foreign Relations series. The Advisory Committee monitors the overall compilation and editorial process of the series and advises on all aspects of the preparation and declassification of the series. The Advisory Committee does not necessarily review the contents of individual volumes in the series, but it makes recommendations on issues that come to its attention and reviews volumes, as it deems necessary to fulfill its advisory and statutory obligations.

Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act Review

Under the terms of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA) of 1974 (44 USC 2111 note), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has custody of the Nixon Presidential historical materials. The requirements of the PRMPA and implementing regulations govern access to the Nixon Presidential historical materials. The PRMPA and implementing public access regulations require NARA to review for additional restrictions in order to ensure the protection of the privacy rights of former Nixon White House officials, since these officials were not given the opportunity to separate their personal materials from public papers. Thus, the PRMPA and implementing public access regulations require NARA formally to notify the Nixon Estate and former Nixon White House staff members that the agency is scheduling for public release Nixon White House historical materials. The Nixon Estate and former White House staff members have 30 days to contest the release of Nixon historical materials in which they were a participant or are mentioned. Further, the PRMPA and implementing regulations require NARA to segregate and return to the creator of files private and personal [Page VIII] materials. All Foreign Relations volumes that include materials from NARAʼs Nixon Presidential Materials Staff are processed and released in accordance with the PRMPA.

Declassification Review

The Office of Information Programs and Services, Bureau of Administration, conducted the declassification review for the Department of State of the documents published in this volume. The review was conducted in accordance with the standards set forth in Executive Order 12958, as amended, on Classified National Security Information and applicable laws.

The principle guiding declassification review is to release all information, subject only to the current requirements of national security as embodied in law and regulation. Declassification decisions entailed concurrence of the appropriate geographic and functional bureaus in the Department of State, other concerned agencies of the U.S. Government, and the appropriate foreign governments regarding specific documents of those governments. The declassification review of this volume, which began in 1998 and was completed in 2006, resulted in the decision to withhold 2 documents in full, excise a paragraph or more in 9 documents, and make minor excisions of less than a paragraph in 37 documents.

The Office of the Historian is confident, on the basis of the research conducted in preparing this volume and as a result of the declassification review process described above, that the record presented in this volume provides an accurate and comprehensive account of the U.S. foreign policy towards Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Acknowledgments

The editors wish to acknowledge the assistance of officials at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project of the National Archives and Records Administration (Archives II), at College Park, Maryland. The editors wish to acknowledge the Richard Nixon Estate for allowing access to the Nixon presidential recordings and the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace for facilitating that access. Special thanks are due to Scott Koch, formerly of the Historical Staff of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was extremely helpful in arranging full access to the files of the Central Intelligence Agency. John Haynes of the Library of Congress was responsible for expediting access to the Kissinger Papers. The editors were able to use the Kissinger Papers, including the transcripts of telephone conversations, with the kind permission of Henry Kissinger. The editors would like to also thank Sandy Meagher for her valuable assistance in expediting the use of files of the Department of Defense.

James E. Miller collected most of the documents, made the initial selections, and annotated the documents he chose. Upon his retirement, [Page IX] Douglas Selvage continued the work on Eastern Europe and revised the general chapters on trade and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Poland. Laurie West Van Hook added documents and made revisions to the Eastern Mediterranean section. The volume was completed under the supervision of Edward C. Keefer, General Editor of the series. Susan C. Weetman coordinated the declassification review. Kristin L. Ahlberg and Aaron W. Marrs did the copy and technical editing. Max Franke prepared the index.