701.60D11/218½
The Finnish Minister (Procopé) to the Secretary of State 20
The Minister of Finland presents his compliments to His Excellency The Secretary of State and has the honor to refer to his note of January 5th, 194221 concerning certain restrictions, mentioned in the Secretary of State’s note of January 3, 1942, as to the travels of members of the staff of the Finnish Legation and of Consular Officers of Finland.
In the aforesaid note of January 5th the Finnish Minister had submitted the question whether the restrictions mentioned in the Secretary [Page 28] of State’s aforesaid note are to apply to American citizens acting as honorary consuls or serving at the offices of the Legation or the Consulate General or who are in the service of any of the officers attached to the Legation or the Consulate.
Referring to the above mentioned and also to several verbal conversations which at different times he has had in the State Department, the Minister of Finland has the honor hereby to repeat what in the conversations he has brought to the knowledge of the Department, viz. that pending a reply to his aforesaid note of January 5th, the Legation of Finland, having brought the contents of the Secretary of State’s note to the attention of all Finnish citizens concerned, has not up to the present informed the American citizens referred to in the note of January 5th about the matter.
At the same time the Minister of Finland most respectfully reiterates the following facts brought forward in his aforementioned verbal conversations.
As far as there are restrictions in Finland as to travels of members of the diplomatic corps, they apply to all foreign diplomats in the country.
It is further to be noted that the Finnish capital Helsinki is in the war zone.
Finnish citizens who are serving as honorary consuls or at the offices of legations or consulates or who are in the service of officers attached to legations or consulates are not subject to other restrictions concerning their travels than Finnish citizens in general.
The restrictions mentioned in the Secretary of State’s note of January 3rd do not, as far as the Finnish Legation is informed, likewise apply to the personnel and the staff of other embassies, legations and consulates in general.