740.00119 Control (Bulgaria)/12–2944: Telegram
The American Representative in Bulgaria (Barnes) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 30—4:30 a.m.]
47. Please see my No. 45, December 26, 5 p.m. The meeting with Generals Biryusov and Cherepanov at my house for dinner proved the most interesting (and I think useful) that General Crane and I have yet had with these key officials.
In the course of three hours of conversation it was possible to convey in one way or another to General Biryusov virtually all that I had said in my telegram No. 46, of December 27, 4 p.m. to the Department. The spirit of the talk was at all times friendly and cooperative. While I do not assume that I talked General Biryusov into a new point of view, I am sure he left the dinner with ideas to ponder that had not occurred to him before. In fact he said in so many words that he had obviously made a serious mistake thus far in not making clear distinction between his role as commanding Russian general and his second role as President of the Allied (Soviet) Control Commission. He avowed an intention to remedy this at once by giving definite form to the Commission and by restricting decisions in the name of the Commission to matters clearly within the purview of the armistice convention.
Several hours later Generals Oxley and Crane were notified of a formal meeting of the Commission to be held the following day (yesterday afternoon at 4:30). At yesterday’s meeting an opportunity was afforded for general discussion of questions that Generals Oxley and Crane have for some weeks wished to bring before the Commission. It was announced that henceforth regular weekly meetings will be held, that special meetings may be called in case of need and that agendas will be prepared and distributed in advance of all meetings.
On the subject of Russian-British relations, General Biryusov at my house confirmed in specific word, the distinction I had made in the last paragraph of my telegram 46 between the situation obtaining here and in Rumania. He said quite frankly that the restrictive measures imposed by him in the matter of Allied (Soviet) Control Commission personnel, their movements and the arrival and departure of planes, were dictated by his distrust in British objectives. He expressed regret that the Americans must be hampered by measures designed to check British enterprise but hoped that these measures were applied to us in as agreeable a manner as possible under the circumstances. General Biryusov disclaimed any designs on the part of Russia with respect to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, except to assure [Page 514] that in the future no Balkan block may exist that might be used to the disadvantage of Russian security. He did not, however, mention the point that doubtless the most effective way to carry out this policy is to place the Communists and other pro-Russian elements in power.
Repeated to Moscow as No. 27 and Caserta as No. 36.