Office of the Historian

233. Telegram From the Embassy in Yugoslavia to the Department of State1

9173.
Belgrade, October 29, 1985, 1752Z

SUBJECT

  • GOY Demarche Over Alleged Exclusion of Yugoslav President From President’s UNGA Reception.

REF

  • (A) Belgrade 7587,2
  • (B) State 275869.3
1.
C—Entire text.
2.
On October 29, at 5:30 p.m., Ambassador (accompanied by Pol Counselor) was called in to Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs (FSFA) to receive verbal démarche from Assistant Secretary Milan Veres. Reading from notes, Veres made the following points:
—
On the occasion of President Reagan’s October 23 UNGA reception for visiting heads of state, only Yugoslav President Vlajkovic failed to receive an invitation. On his return, he informed the collective Presidency of Yugoslavia of this.
—
Such behavior is unusual and is incorrect and by it the dignity and sovereignty of the country represented by President Vlajkovic is insulted.
—
This is not the way to safeguard and to maintain relations nor is it the way to overcome difficulties which currently exist between our two countries.
—
Such acts always have a different effect from that previously planned and this one will have an adverse effect on those who planned it.
—
This act toward the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia was very negatively received by the leadership of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and will undoubtedly have an adverse effect in our country.
—
It also invokes a negative reaction and comment among all our partners. Even TASS told us of its reaction when it heard this news.
—
The SFRY values its relations with the USA based on full independence, sovereignty and the dignity of both countries and, in its positions, Yugoslavia has always defended and protected its dignity and its respected position as well as its principles on which relations are based.
3.
In response, the Ambassador said he was very surprised to hear of this. He noted that we had extended a general invitation some time previously (reftels) and he could only conclude that a horrible protocol error had occurred. He promised to report Veres’ demarche immediately to Washington. Speaking privately, the Ambassador said that he wished he had been consulted informally about this by the GOY before it felt compelled to raise this matter in such a formal manner.
4.
Comment and action requested: If, as appears to be the case, a protocol error did result in this appalling set of events, it is imperative that an apology—preferably from the highest level—be forthcoming. Given the Balkan state of mind which in the best of times prevails here, the Yugoslav leadership has jumped to the worst conclusion from Vlajkovic’s non-invitation, i.e., that the U.S. was publicly humiliating Yugoslavia due to its annoyance over the Abu Abbas affair.4 It will take a nicely written apology to put things to rights and even then, unfortunately, the incident will continue to raise some suspicions in some minds.
Scanlan
  1. Source: Reagan Library, Paula J. Dobriansky Files, Yugoslavia (10). Confidential; Immediate. Sent Immediate for information to the mission to the UN.↩
  2. Telegram 7587 from Belgrade, September 11, summarized the communication between Yugoslav and U.S. officials regarding the Presidential reception at the UNGA. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D850644–0611)↩
  3. Telegram 275869 to all diplomatic posts, October 11, informed them of the Presidential reception at the UNGA. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D850725–0798)↩
  4. Reference is to the October 7 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship by the Palestine Liberation Front and subsequent killing of American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, planned by the group’s co-founder, Abu Abbas. The hijackers were able to escape to Yugoslavia, where they could not be extradited to the United States. The effect of this episode on the U.S.-Yugoslav relationship is discussed in telegram 9082 from Belgrade, October 26. (Reagan Library, Paula J. Dobriansky Files, Yugoslavia (10))↩