234. Editorial Note
The Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council, held in Paris December 15–17, was attended by all Foreign Ministers and NATO Permanent Representatives of the 15 member countries. The U.S. Delegation was headed by Secretary of State Christian A. Herter and included Permanent NATO Representative W. Randolph Burgess, Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Anderson, and Secretary of Defense Thomas A. Gates, Jr. A list of the principal members of the U. S. Delegation is printed in Department of State Bulletin, December 28, 1959, page 935.
The most extensive body of documentation on this NATO Ministerial Meeting is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549–1568. CF 1549 contains the index of papers prepared for this Ministerial Meeting as well as a set of memoranda of conversation between U.S. and foreign officials. CF 1550–1552 contain copies of Topol–Polto, Tosec–Secto, and Tocah–Cahto telegrams for the December 12–22 period. A post-conference file for December 19–21 is in CF 1553. The Secretary’s briefing books are in CF 1554–1556. CF 1557 contains Orders of the Day for the December 15–17 and 22 dates. Summary Records of the Ministerial Meetings of the North Atlantic Council are in CF 1558; the Verbatim Records are in CF 1559 and 1565–1568. The administrative file is in CF 1560; substantive miscellaneous papers are in CF 1561; and administrative miscellaneous papers and letters are in CF 1562. CF 1563 contains a chronological record for December 12 and 13; CF 1564–1568 contain a chronological record for meetings for December 14–17 and 22. Telegrams and documentation on this Ministerial Meeting are ibid., Central File 396.1–PA.
The December 15–17 Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council preceded the Meeting of the Western Heads of Government in Paris held December 19–21 (see Documents 92 and 93) The NAC Ministerial Meeting reconvened on December 22 and was briefed on the results of the Heads of Government Meeting.
[Page 528]Secretary of State Herter and his party arrived in Paris on December 13 after a day in London. For text of his arrival statement, see Department of State Bulletin, January 4, 1960, page 3. At 4 p.m., he met with Under Secretary of State Douglas Dillon at the Embassy Residence, and at 5 p.m. they were joined by Gates and Anderson; no memoranda of these conversations have been found. In the evening, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Livingston T. Merchant and Charles E. Bohlen, Special Assistant to Secretary Herter, met with Louis Joxe, Secretary General of the French Foreign Ministry. Memoranda of their discussion on the French estimate of Soviet intentions (US/MC/1), the U.N. resolution on Algeria (US/MC/3), and General Twining’s speech (US/MC/5) are in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1563. Regarding Twining’s speech, see Document 233.
At 9:30 a.m. on December 14, the delegation held a meeting, of which no record has been found. One hour later, Herter, accompanied by Ambassador Houghton, Merchant, and Counselor of the Embassy in France Randolph A. Kidder, called on French Foreign Minister Couve de Murville. A memorandum of their conversation on General Twining’s statement is printed as Document 235. Memoranda of their conversations on the U.S. position at the United Nations on Algeria (US/MC/8), Italian participation in preparations for the East-West summit and disarmament talks (US/MC/9), and NATO and Western summit meetings (US/MC/10) are in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1564. At 11:30 a.m., Secretary General Paul-Henri Spaak called on Secretary Herter; see Document 236. At 12:15 p.m., Herter, Burgess, and Merchant met with General Norstad; no record of their conversation has been found. A memorandum of John W. Tuthill’s conversation on European integration with Sir Anthony Rumbold, Assistant Under Secretary in the British Foreign Office (US/MC/2), during a luncheon, is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1564.
At 2 p.m., Herter began talks with British leaders on a wide range of issues. His discussion with Lloyd on the Common Market was summarized in Secto 6, December 15. (ibid., Central Files, 440.001/12–1559) Their discussion on nuclear testing and disarmament was summarized in Secto 8. (ibid., 700.5611/12–1559) Their discussion on SEATO and contingency planning was summarized in Secto 22. (ibid., 790.5/ 12–1759) Memoranda of their conversation on disarmament (US/MC/11), nuclear testing (US/MC/12), NATO Ministerial Meeting (US/MC/13), Laos and contingency planning (US/MC/14), and summit conferences (US/MC/15) are ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1564.
The ceremonial opening session of the Ministerial Meeting took place in the new NATO building on Tuesday, December 15, at 10:15 a.m. [Page 529] French Prime Minister Michel Debré’s statement presenting the new building to NATO and the statement of acceptance by Halvard Lange, President of the North Atlantic Council, are ibid., CF 1565. At 10 a.m., the Ministers convened the first restricted session; see Document 237. Secretary Anderson and Derick Heathcoat Amory, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, discussed matters of trade and aid during a luncheon. Their discussion was reported in Polto 1167, December 16. (Department of State, Central Files, 400.002/12–1659) At 3:30 p.m., the Ministerial Meeting resumed; see Document 238. At 4:50 p.m., McBride discussed with Mr. Pansa of the Italian Foreign Ministry Italian participation at the forthcoming Western summit meeting. The memorandum of their discussion (US/MC/4) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1565. From 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Secretary Gates, General Twining, and other Department of Defense officials met with British Defense Minister Harold A. Watkinson, Admiral Mountbatten, and other British officials to discuss a variety of military defense issues. The memorandum of conversation is ibid., CF 1565.
On Wednesday, December 16, the Ministerial Meeting resumed at 10:15 a.m. The session was summarized in Polto 1168, December 17. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1–PA/12–1759) The highlights of the meeting were summarized in Polto 1169 (ibid.); a longer summary is in Document 239. The session resumed at 3:30 p.m.; see Document 240. At 7 p.m., Herter, Merchant, Kohler, and Hillenbrand met with German Foreign Minister Von Brentano. The memorandum of their discussion on German vested assets (US/MC/6) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1566.
On Thursday, December 17, the Ministerial Meeting opened at 9:45 a.m.; see Document 241. At 12:45 p.m., Herter talked with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Averoff concerning the question of including some road construction projects in Greece in the NATO infrastructure program. The memorandum of conversation (US/MC/16) in is Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1549 and 1567. At 1 p.m., Herter made a telenews recording at the NATO television studio. The transcript is ibid., CF 1567. A debriefing session was held at 1:15 p.m.; no record of the session has been found. Herter had a working lunch with Merchant, Bohlen, and Kohler; no record of the discussion has been found. At 3:30 p.m., the session resumed; see Document 242. For text of the communiqué issued on December 17, see Department of State Bulletin, January 4, 1960, pages 3–4. At 11:05 p.m., the Secretary left for Toulon to meet President Eisenhower, who was arriving to attend the Heads of Government Meeting.
During the Western Heads of Government Meeting in Paris, December 19–21, U.S. officials held numerous side talks with foreign officials, some of which touched on NATO matters. A record of a meeting [Page 530] between Presidents Eisenhower and De Gaulle on December 20 is printed in Part 2 as Document 151. A memorandum of conversation between President De Gaulle and Secretary Herter on Algeria, NATO, nuclear weapons, and the EEC on December 20 is printed in Part 2 as Document 152. A memorandum of President Eisenhower’s discussion with Prime Minister Debré on military integration on December 21 is printed as Document 244. Later that day, Herter met with Dutch Prime Minister Jan E. DeQuay on several issues. A memorandum of their discussion on European integration and NATO problems (US/MC/13) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1569 and 1578. This meeting was followed by a meeting of the four Foreign Ministers where they discussed the report to the NATO Ministerial Council and the next phase of preparatory work for the East-West summit. The memorandum of that discussion (US/MC/16) is ibid.
Following the Western Heads of Government Meeting, the Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council reconvened at 9:30 a.m. on December 22; see Document 245. For text of the communiqué issued at the close of this session on December 22, see Department of State Bulletin, January 11, 1960, pages 44–45. At 2 p.m., Secretary Herter held a background press conference for U.S. correspondents, reported in telegram 2834 from Paris, December 22. (Department of State, Central Files, 911.61/12–2259)
On December 21 and continuing on December 22 at 3:30 p.m., Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs John N. Irwin, II and Department of Defense officials met with Minister Joxe to discuss U.S.-French relations, particularly as they related to military defense. The memorandum of conversation is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1568.
The following documents are arranged in the order in which the meetings were held.