124.66/3–1850

The Minister in Romania (Schoenfeld) to the Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Pauker)1

No. 889

The American Minister presents his compliments to Her Excellency the Rumanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to state that the Department of State in Washington has studied the suggestion made orally to Mr. Schoenfeld by Madame Pauker on January 28 for an exchange of four visas for official staff of the Missions of the respective countries and desires him to make the following observations:

1.
The United States Government reaffirms its non-acceptance of the arbitrary determination by the Rumanian Government through [Page 1056] control of visas of the size and character of the American Legation whose responsibilities with respect to American interests are only assessable by the United States Government. The acknowleged effort by the Rumanian Government to reduce the staff of the American Legation in this way contravenes the generally accepted principles of comity which are practiced by the United States Government with respect to Rumania and all other diplomatic representations in the United States.
2.
The uncooperative attitude of the Rumanian Government and the progressive restrictions over a wide area imposed upon the American Legation have indicated clearly that the Rumanian Government is not interested in open and friendly contact between the Rumanian and American peoples but, on the contrary, that it wishes narrowly to confine relations between the two countries and to restrict diplomatic representation to a minimum.
The organization and maintenance even of a reduced staff is administratively impracticable if the capricious handling of official visa applications persists. The United States Government therefore desires an understanding that will obviate continual discussion of individual applications or groups of applications. The Rumanian Government as long ago as April 1948 gave informal assurances, which were subsequently several times repeated, of willingness to grant visas for replacements. In practice however these assurances were not observed.
3.
The Rumanian Government has at different times referred to the disparity in size of the Rumanian Legation in Washington and the American Legation in Bucharest but has professed recognition of the principle that each Government should fix its own complement. Although the duties devolving upon the American Legation in Bucharest call for an overall American complement of more than 50 persons, the United States Government contemplates reducing the American personnel of the Legation to the neighborhood of 30, including the persons in the offices of the Service Attachés. In conformity with this reduction, the American Legation desires at this time 15 visas for such personnel in lieu of the 30 pending applications. It is prepared to withdraw the existing applications and to furnish a revised list of those currently requested.
4.
As to the office of the Service Attachés, the United States Government requests the Rumanian authorities to fulfill their earlier assurances that replacements for the recognized Attachés would be acceptable. The above list envisaging 15 visa applicants includes new Army and Air Attachés replacing those accredited to Bucharest who have been or will be transferred when visas for replacements are granted.
5.
If the suggested numbers are acceptable and visas are granted, the American Legation will be immediately authorized to act on the visa applications for Rumanian personnel now pending.
6.
The United States Government also asks assurances that it may maintain the level and balance of its Legation membership through future replacements and that the Rumanian Government will issue visas promptly, unless a particular assignment is not agreeable to it on personal grounds. It believes that a period of 15 days should suffice for a decision on individual applications and the Rumanian Government may be assured of no less prompt action on visa applications for its official personnel than that which it accords the requests for visas for American official personnel.
7.
Since these questions have been pending for a long time, it will be appreciated if a reply to these proposals may be given within the coming fortnight.

  1. The source text was transmitted to the Department of State as an enclosure to despatch 200, March 18, from Bucharest, not printed.