668.81/2–650
Memorandum by the Officer in Charge of Greek Affairs ( Cromie ) to the Director of the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs ( Jernegan )
Subject: Greek-Yugoslav Relations
In talking with Messrs. Campbell and Melbourne (EE) last week about the draft reply to Ambassador Kosanovic’s note on the Greek children,1 I took occasion also to pass on some of your ideas on, the broader aspects of Greek-Yugoslav relations. I repeated notably your concern over the apparent recent hardening of the Yugoslav attitude as exemplified by Vladimir Dedijer’s2 press statement of January 14 that “only democratization of Greece will be a step toward the normalization of relations between Yugoslavia and Greece” and Ambassador Kosanovic’s démarche to Mr. Rusk in the same sense on the same date.3 I repeated your thought that it may be about time to inform the Yugoslavs that there is little likelihood of there being any “democratization” of Greece in the sense they desire, that the Government resulting from the March 5 elections will probably be roughly similar in orientation to its predecessors, and that the Yugoslavs had better adjust their relations with Greece on the basis of realities. I added my own thought that the policy of not requiring political concessions from Tito in exchange for our economic support, while basically sound, should not be carried so far as to enable Tito to play both ends against the middle.
Mr. Campbell replied that the important point to drive home to the Yugoslavs is that it is to their interest to adjust their differences with Greece irrespective of what Government might be in power in that country. Mr. Melbourne thought that the Yugoslavs might be induced to undertake a rapprochement with Greece on a step by step basis. The reopening of the Belgrade-Salonika railroad would seem the first and most logical step. The facilities are already there, they functioned in the past, and since rail communications do exist between the Cominform area and western Europe, Cominform propaganda exploitation of the reopening to discredit Tito should not be too effective.
Mr. Campbell then went on to discuss the British proposal, conveyed to Mr. Campbell by Lord Jellicoe on January 24, for a tri-partite US-UK-French démarche to the Yugoslavs on Greek-Yugoslav relations,4 and showed me the Department’s draft reply5 to the effect [Page 1365] that continuing parallel pressure at Belgrade by the three Western missions would be preferable. Mr. Campbell said, however, that this reply was being held up and the whole matter left in abeyance as a result of the recent visit to Belgrade of Sir Horace Rumbold6 of the British Foreign Office who had concluded that the time was, after all, not ripe for the proposed démarche.
Mr. Campbell said that he would bear in mind your views, as outlined above, to be passed on to the British and French on appropriate occasion and to be conveyed to the western Ambassadors at Belgrade as standing guidance.