51. Telegram From the Embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany to the Department of State1
10177. For the Secretary. Subject: Schmidt’s Visit to Washington; His Concern About RFE/RL.
1. At a luncheon he gave for new Ambassadors July 15, I talked with Chancellor Schmidt privately about his trip to Washington in July.2
2. He said he looked forward to another general review with the President of most of the subjects they had touched on in London.3 The nuclear question, of course, would be one of the items. He hoped the seven-nation study would go well, but was concerned about difficulties the French might cause. Schmidt also noted briefly that the human rights issue, which he thought had been “cleared up” in London, seems to have arisen again. However, he hoped things would calm down and that Belgrade would go reasonably well. (He was not specific in his remarks, but he may have been referring to recent high-level US statements on human rights. A James Reston column carried in the [Page 176] Paris Herald Tribune June 16 cites German concerns in this regard and was written after Reston had seen the Chancellor.)
3. The main thing on Schmidt’s mind, however, was RFE/RL and the US intention to install new, more powerful transmitters at the site near Munich. He said this was a matter he planned to take up with the President. He regretted that he had not been consulted about the decision on the transmitters and said he had ordered that issuance of the required FRG license for installation of the transmitters be held up pending his personal review. It was possible, he said, that he would not approve the license.
4. Schmidt said he was placed in an uncomfortable position by RFE/RL; the stations were on FRG territory, but he had no control over the content of their broadcasts. While he had not been pressed recently by the Soviets on the subject, it was likely that Brezhnev would raise it when he came to Bonn in the fall. Schmidt said he had told the previous US administration that he expected the stations to be phased out within two or three years, but things seemed to be going in the opposite direction.
5. I told Schmidt that we attached great importance to RFE/RL. The location of the transmitters in Germany was the most effective in terms of reaching the target audiences and I thought it would have most unfortunate implications if the operations of the Radios were limited. I stressed the President’s personal interest in RFE/RL and said I was sure he would wish to consider Schmidt’s views carefully. Schmidt said he understood the mission of the Radios but wondered if it might not be feasible for the broadcasts to be carried out somewhere else than in the FRG.
6. Comment: There have been earlier intimations of Schmidt’s reservations about RFE/RL, but his comments to me are more specific than anything we have had before.4 I seriously doubt if he would go so far as to deny the license for the new transmitters or push for removal of the stations from the FRG, since such actions would expose him to a storm of criticism from the opposition. However, it is clear he is irritated by the lack of consultation concerning the [Page 177] transmitters and that it is his present intention to raise the question directly with the President.
7. In addition to readying our positions on the Radios in anticipation of a possible discussion when Schmidt is in Washington, it occurs to me that it might be useful in defusing the situation if the President could communicate directly and informally with Schmidt about it before their meeting. If the President has occasion to telephone the Chancellor on other matters, a brief reference to the radio/transmitter problem and an expression of readiness to discuss the Chancellor’s concerns frankly could be helpful.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840084–1444. Secret; Priority; Nodis.↩
- Documentation on discussions between Carter and Schmidt is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. XXVII, Western Europe.↩
- Scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. XXVII, Western Europe.↩
- In telegram 10621 from Bonn, June 27, Stoessel reported that Chancellery aide Jürgen Ruhfus recounted Schmidt’s displeasure at not being consulted on the decision to modernize and expand the transmitters in West Germany. Ruhfus, however, “was not sure what the Chancellor’s official position on this subject would be during his conversations with the President because there was considerable disagreement within the coalition about what should be done regarding the Radios. He said it was uncertain that Schmidt would want to risk the domestic political turmoil that could follow if the Radios were to be removed or their activity reduced at his request.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840084–1442)↩