811.34553B/10–1746
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Director of the Office of European Affairs (Hickerson)
Mr. Donald Maclean76 came in to see me yesterday afternoon at his request. He referred to the recent conversation which Mr. Culbertson and General Kuter conducted in Lisbon in regard to base rights in the Azores. Mr. Maclean said that we had kept the British Government fully informed in regard to these conversations but that there were two matters in connection with them which he would like to raise with me.
Mr. Maclean inquired whether it was our present intention to resume conversations with the Portuguese Government in the next few months. I replied that it was our present intention not to resume such conversations with the Portuguese Government in the next few months. I went on to say that our present thought is that if the May 1946 Agreement works as well as we now anticipate, we will probably approach the Portuguese Government about next May or June and ask for an extension of the 18 months period of transit rights which we obtained in that Agreement. I said that we would probably try to get the Portuguese Government to agree to extend this Agreement for the duration of the occupation period for Germany and Japan. I stressed the fact that this is our present thought and that our thinking may change in the next few months but that I consider this unlikely.
Mr. Maclean also inquired whether we intended to have an exchange of views with the British Government before we resume conversations [Page 1022] with, the Portuguese Government about long term base rights in the Azores. I replied that I could assure Mr. Maclean that we do intend to discuss this matter with the British Government before resuming conversations with the Portuguese Government. I recalled to Mr. Maclean that we had had an extended exchange of views with the British Government beginning with November 1945 before we made any approach to the Portuguese Government. I told Mr. Maclean that we are fully conscious of the terms of the ancient alliance between the United Kingdom and Portugal and that I was sure he understood that we had no desire to undercut in any way the British position in her relations with Portugal. I said that we wish to have British concurrence and active support for our base program in Portugal as we assured the British Government last November at the beginning of the conversations.
Mr. Maclean expressed appreciation. He said that he knew that the British Government would be glad to lend its full support to the United States in this matter. He added that we could, of course, understand that for security reasons the British Government would welcome United States bases in the Azores but that they would not like to see any arrangement which would exclude British forces and thus worsen the present U.K. security position. I replied that we fully understood this and that we would have not the slightest objection to the British Government concluding an arrangement with Portugal to have rights of use paralleling any rights which the United States Government obtained in the Azores.
- First Secretary of the British Embassy.↩