Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume X, Eastern Europe

332. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Hungary¹

164581.

Washington, May 30, 1987, 0403Z

SUBJECT

• DAS Simons Meeting May 28 With Hungarian DCM; U.S.-Hungarian Relations.

1. C—Entire text.

2. Summary: In meeting with Hungarian DCM, DAS Simons outlined current U.S. thinking about the state of U.S.-Hungarian relations. Simons pointed out that the U.S. has better overall relations with Hungary than any other socialist country and that there is a general belief within the USG that relations can get better. Simons said the fact is that the break-through era of easy progress on issues has ended may cause frustration and talk of a “plateau” in relations. However, we view any plateau that may exist for this reason as a challenge, a springboard for, rather than a cap on, future progress. We see no natural limit to the development of relations. At the same time, it will now take more work to maintain the pace of progress. However, the U.S. is willing to work for better relations and he believes Hungary is ready to do the same. End summary.

3. DAS Simons took advantage of meeting with Hungarian DCM Miklos Revesz May 28 to present U.S. views on U.S.-Hungarian relations. Simons said he had the feeling that there were musings on this subject in Budapest and he wanted to ensure that a clear statement of U.S. views existed for the record. Revesz confirmed that questions had been raised at “middle levels” in the Foreign Ministry and said that a statement of U.S. policy would be helpful at this time. He promised to report Simons’ remarks in full.

4. Simons began by saying the United States has better overall relations with Hungary than with any other socialist country. This was true because the two countries have important interests in common, and because both sides had demonstrated a willingness to work in practical ways to expand our relations and to solve problems as they arose. Simons said he saw “tremendous possibilities” for forward movement in many aspects of the relationship. He then chose economic relations, exchanges and counter-terrorism as examples of where progress was possible.

5. On economic relations, Simons pointed to several outstanding trade opportunities and said that, of these, the prospect for the sale of U.S. commercial aircraft was the brightest. On technology transfer, he noted the U.S. was involved in clarifying our regulations in ways which could lead to expanded trade with Hungary, and be exemplary, if successful, for the way we deal with other Eastern European countries on these issues. He said the pace of our dialogue on export controls had slowed, not because of a lack of U.S. interest, but because the Commerce Department officials involved were simply overworked.

6. Turning to exchanges, Simons said the people-to-people exchanges begun by Ambassadors Rhinesmith and Palmer offered “fabulous possibilities” for expansion. Future exchanges could include not just scholars and officials but people in all walks of life. Again, such programs could be exemplary for our dealings with other regional countries.

7. On counter-terrorism, Simons said our contacts have naturally been exploratory, and development slow, but this is natural since it involves police work and intelligence; overall, the level of cooperation already achieved registers the positive state of our relations and real possibilities for the future. He said we should now follow up on what we had already accomplished.

8. Noting it was possible to describe U.S.-Hungarian relations as having reached a plateau, Simons said if it was true, the United States wished to view this as a challenge, a springboard, for future progress and not a cap on what is possible. The frustration some may feel over the current pace of relations he felt could be explained by the fact that the “break-through period” of easy advances was over and that more work will be needed to sustain the same pace of progress. Simons said the USG did not believe there was any natural limit on the development of relations.

9. This was the case, Simons said, despite the reality that our countries had different systems and belonged to different alliances. He said this situation inevitably would produce problems, but that having good relations meant the ability to deal with the “sour as well as the sweet.” Simons said the United States was fully prepared to work for future progress and assumed Hungary was prepared to do the same. He said this view was shared by Ambassador Palmer and that no differences over policy toward Hungary existed within the USG. He said we believed that relations were good and could get better.

Shultz

1. Source: Department of State, Records from Ambassador Thomas W. Simons, Jr., Lot 03 D 256, Chron, May 1987. Confidential; Immediate. Sent for information to Munich. Drafted by Perito; cleared by Martin Wenick (EUR/EEY), Joseph Lake (S/S), and Robert Downey (S/S–O); approved by Simons.