740.00119 Control (Hungary)/9–545: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:50 p.m.]
3173. I do not feel that any useful purpose would be achieved by attempts to discuss revision of statutes of Control Commissions either [Page 863] in Moscow or in the three capitals. Soviet view namely that question was settled by our agreement at Potsdam to accept Voroshilov’s draft as basis is only in line with our prior experience with respect to Soviet interpretation of phrase “as basis” and has subsequently been authoritatively confirmed in Molotov’s letter to me (see my 3170, September 5, 12 noon59) about admittance of Americans to Control Commission areas. We are plainly up against flat difference of interpretation of Potsdam agreement. It seems therefore that this would properly be a subject for discussion at coming Foreign Ministers’ meeting in London. Until this question is settled, no progress can be made towards agreement on the statutes.
I understand Britain intends without making any commitments about Voroshilov’s draft to wait awhile and see how its application works out in practice with view to letting matters ride if things work out satisfactorily or proposing amendments in case these prove desirable.
Incidentally I do not understand why we are now proposing chairman shall call meetings of Commission only “at least twice a month” when the Potsdam agreement (section XII) as well as Voroshilov’s draft specified minimum intervals of 10 days.
Sent Department; repeated Budapest 44; Bucharest 127; Sofia 98 re Department’s telegram 1918, August 28, 4 p.m.
- Not printed; it reported receipt of a letter from Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky regarding the entry of Americans into the former German satellite countries. The letter stated that the Soviet Government agreed that applications for the entry of persons into Control Commission areas would in the future be decided upon by the Allied Control Commission chairman without reference to Moscow. The letter also observed that the limits of the competence of the Allied Control Commission and of Allied representatives was defined with sufficient clarity in the principles agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. (740.00119 Control Hungary/9–545)↩