Editorial Note
In a statement issued to the press on February 24, Secretary of State Dean Acheson reviewed recent actions taken by the Governments of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania contributing to a marked deterioration of relations with the United States. Secretary Acheson indicated that the obvious purpose of those actions was to cut off the people of Eastern Europe from the free world, to deprive them of all hope of any other fate than that reserved for them by their rulers, and to liquidate all signs and symbols of Western influence to the accompaniment of a flood of propaganda. He observed that the measures which the United States was compelled to take in order to meet the [Page 9] situation in Eastern Europe “created by the unprincipled actions of those governments are in no sense directed against the people.” For the text of the statement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 6, 1950, pages 377–378. For documentation on the actions by Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania referred to by the Secretary of State and the countermeasures undertaken by the United States, see pages 503 ff., 980 ff., and 1052 ff., respectively.