Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Western European Integration and Security, Canada, Volume VII, Part 1

255. Editorial Note

The Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council, held in Istanbul May 2–4, 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 and advisers from the Departments of State and Defense. A list of the principal members of the U.S. Delegation is printed in Department of State Bulletin, May 23, 1960, page 842.

The most extensive body of documentation on this NATO Ministerial Meeting is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1650–1661. CF 1650 contains a set of memoranda of conversation between U.S. and foreign officials. Copies of Tosec and Secto telegrams are located in CF 1651 and 1652, respectively. Copies of Tocah and Cahto telegrams are in CF 1653. CF 1654 contains administrative and miscellaneous papers. Substantive and miscellaneous papers, including copies of statements, text of the communiqué, and talking papers, are in CF 1655. The Verbatim Records are in CF 1656; no Summary Records of this Ministerial Meeting have been found. CF 1657 is an administrative file concerning conference and delegation arrangements, procedures, and schedules. CF 1658 and 1659 contain briefing books. Orders of the Day for May 1–4 are in CF 1660. CF 1661 contains a chronological record for meetings of the April 30-May 4 period. Telegrams and documentation on this Ministerial Meeting are ibid., Central File 396.1–IS.

The May 2–4 Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council was preceded by the Ministerial Council meeting of the Central Treaty Organization at Tehran, Iran, April 28–30, which Secretary Herter attended. He left Tehran on April 30 and arrived in Istanbul at 6 p.m. For text of his arrival statement, see Department of State Bulletin, May 23, 1960, pages 840–841. At a dinner that evening hosted by British Foreign Secretary Lloyd, Herter discussed the postponement of the meeting on the Four-Power Working Group Report on the East-West summit. The discussion was reported in Secto 45, May 1. (Department of State, Central Files, 398.00/5–150)

At 10 a.m. on May 1, Herter and Livingston T. Merchant joined the British, French, and German Foreign Ministers in restricted session to discuss summit purposes and tactics. The memorandum of discussion (US/MC/3) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1650. Meanwhile, at 10:30 a.m., Theodore C. Achilles, Counselor of the Department, met with Monsignor F. Lardone, Apostolic Delegate in Istanbul, to discuss the Turkish political situation. The memorandum of that discussion (US/MC/5) is ibid.

Following their restricted session, the Foreign Ministers, including Secretary Herter, discussed preparations for discussion of Berlin at the forthcoming summit. Foy Kohler and Merchant also participated for the United States. The memorandum of discussion (US/MC/7) is ibid. At noon, Herter, Merchant, Philip J. Farley, and Charles C. Stelle, Deputy Representative to the Ten-Nation Disarmament Committee, met with Frederick M. Eaton, Representative to the Ten-Nation Disarmament Committee; and at 3 p.m., Secretary Herter, Merchant, Kohler, Achilles, Nolting, and Fessenden met with Ambassador Burgess. No record of these conversations has been found. At 3:30 p.m., Secretary General Spaak called on Secretary Herter; Burgess, Merchant, Kohler, Nolting, and Fessenden participated. The meeting was reported in Secto 49, May 2. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1–IS/5–260) At 5 p.m., Herter met with the British, French, Canadian, and Italian Foreign Ministers to discuss disarmament, reported in Secto 48. (ibid.) An assessment of the Secretary’s conversation with French Foreign Minister Couve de Murville during and after this meeting on a possible French proposal at the forthcoming summit on the control of nuclear delivery vehicles was transmitted in Secto 52. (ibid.) The report of the five Western delegations to the Ten-Nation Disarmament Committee, dated April 28, is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1665.

The Four-Power Working Group on Germany met at 5 p.m. U.S. participants were Kohler, Martin J. Hillenbrand, John M. McSweeney, Acting Director of Soviet Union Affairs, and Colonel J.H. Scofield, a German expert at the Department of Defense. A U.S. memorandum concerning Berlin, dated May 1, prepared for this meeting is ibid. No record of the discussion at the meeting has been found. At 8 p.m., the U.S., British, and French Foreign Ministers held a dinner meeting; other U.S. participants were Merchant, Kohler, and McSweeney. Memoranda of Kohler’s conversations with his British and French counterparts on summit procedures and briefing of the Germans (US/MC/1) and on summit preparations and discussion of tactics with the Germans (US/MC/4) are ibid., CF 1650.

On Monday, May 2, German Foreign Minister Von Brentano called on Secretary Herter; other U.S. participants were Merchant and Hillenbrand. A memorandum of their conversation on the Norstad inspection plan (US/MC/8) is ibid. At 10 a.m., the opening ceremony of the Ministerial Meeting began. Copies of the welcoming address by Turkish Foreign Minister Fatin R st Zorlu and a speech by Council Chairman Halvard Lange are ibid., CF 1655. A telegraphic summary of their statements was transmitted in Secto 53, May 2. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1-IS/5–260) The Ministers then discussed item I(a) of the agenda, disarmament. (A copy of the agenda (C-A (60)18) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1658.) Herter opened the morning session by reading a message from President Eisenhower; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, May 23, 1960, pages 839–840. Lloyd, as spokesman for the five Western nations on the Ten-Nation Disarmament Committee, summarized the Western plan on disarmament for the forthcoming summit meeting as well as the Geneva disarmament talks. A general discussion of the Western position followed. A telegraphic summary of the session was transmitted in Secto 54. (Department of State, Central Files, 396.1-PA/5–260) The Verbatim Record (C-VR (60)18) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1656. At 11:30 a.m., immediately after the morning session, Merchant talked to Canadian Foreign Minister Howard Green concerning the Norstad plan. The memorandum of discussion (US/MC/2) is ibid., CF 1650.

The Ministerial Meeting resumed at 3:15 p.m. to discuss agenda item I (b), Germany and Berlin. Discussion centered on aspects of the Four-Power Working Group Report, especially the proposal for a plebiscite for Germany and Berlin, which had been presented to the North Atlantic Council on April 20. The text of Herter’s opening statement on Germany and Berlin was transmitted in Secto 56, May 3. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1–IS/5–360) A telegraphic summary of discussion of this agenda item was transmitted in Secto 55. (ibid.)

Discussion of agenda item I(c), East-West relations, occupied the latter part of May 2 and Tuesday morning, May 3. This discussion was summarized in Secto 68, May 4. (ibid., 396.1–IS/5–460) During the session, it was agreed that the NAC would rework the draft declaration of principles contained in the Four-Power Working Group Report, possibly for issuance by NATO on the eve of the East-West summit, although no decision was taken on the best way to exploit it. There was continued widespread opposition to the idea of attempting to obtain at the summit an agreed position with the Soviets on aid to underdeveloped countries and arms shipments restriction. Spaak pressed for continued consultation and commitment not to undertake new initiatives without NATO concurrence. The Verbatim Records (C-VR (60)19 and C-VR (60)20) of the May 2 afternoon and May 3 morning sessions are ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1656. At 9 p.m., Foreign Minister Zorlu hosted a dinner for the delegations. Memoranda of conversation between Merchant and Norman A. Robertson, Canadian Under Secretary of State for External Affairs, on Bomarc, disarmament, Skyshield, and Law of the Sea (US/MC/6) and the Korea situation (US/MC/9) are ibid., CF 1650.

On Tuesday, May 3, Norwegian Foreign Minister Lange called on Secretary Herter at 9:15 a.m.; Merchant also attended. A memorandum of their conversation on the Common Market and the Free Trade Area was transmitted in Secto 69, May 3. (ibid., Central Files, 374.800/5–460) At 11 a.m., the Ministerial Meeting resumed its discussion of agenda item I(c), summarized in Secto 68. (ibid.) At 1 p.m., Merchant met with Canadian Foreign Minister Green to discuss the Canadian desire to hold the Centenary World’s Fair in 1967. The memorandum of that discussion (US/MC/10) is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1650. At 3:15 p.m., the Ministerial Meeting resumed for discussion of agenda items II and III, the Secretary General’s report on the Annual Political Appraisal and a review of the international situation. A telegraphic summary of discussion of item II was transmitted in Secto 67, May 4. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1–IS/5—460) A copy of Secretary General Spaak’s report (C-M(60)40), which was the basis for the discussion, is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1658.

Secretary Herter offered his observations on Spaak’s report in the following areas: the future summit meetings and arrangements for NAC consultation, economic cooperation, and long-range planning. Herter noted the association of a NATO observer with the Working Group on East-West relations and said “we should seek to improve constantly on our consultation procedures, building on past experience as we go along.” He also hoped for a new organization for economic cooperation and development, which would carry on the most useful activities of the OEEC. All 15 members of NATO would be members of the new organization, but no organizational arrangement had yet been decided. The full text of Herter’s statement was transmitted in Secto 66. (ibid., Central Files, 396.1–IS/5–460)

The ensuing discussion on agenda item II was summarized in Secto 77. (ibid.) Discussion initially focused on the Political Advisers Report on the Situation in the Middle East (C-M(60)37), a copy of which is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1659. [text not declassified] The Verbatim Record (C-VR(60)21) of this afternoon session is ibid., CF 1656. At 7:15 p.m., Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph M.A.H. Luns called on Secretary Herter to discuss Dutch military reinforcements for Western New Guinea; Kohler and Fessenden also attended. (US/MC/11; scheduled for publication in volume XVII) At 7:30 p.m., Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Andrew H. Berding gave a backgrounder to U.S. correspondents; a copy of the transcript is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1655.

During the evening, Secretary Herter sent a message to President Eisenhower which briefly summarized the meetings of May 2–3. It reads in part:

“Insofar as the NATO meeting itself is concerned, it has on the whole gone extremely well due largely to the fact that there had been a prior distribution of most of the working papers prepared in advance for the summit, and the very special efforts at consultation which had been carried out in the past few weeks. The only discordant notes have arisen over differences of opinion regarding some of the rather vague French proposals for topics to be discussed at the summit, such as joining with the Soviets in aid to underdeveloped countries, discussion of trade matters, et cetera.” (Cahto 11 from Istanbul, May 3; ibid., Central Files, 396.1–IS/5–360)

On Wednesday, May 4, the Ministerial Meeting resumed at 10:30 a.m. to discuss agenda item VI, the communiqué. (There was apparently no discussion of items IV and V.) No summary of the discussion has been found beyond noting agreement on the final communiqué, which was transmitted in Secto 78, May 4. (ibid., 396.1–IS/5–460) The text of the communiqué is printed in Department of State Bulletin, May 23, 1960, page 840. Following adjournment of the meeting, Secretary Herter met with Foreign Minister Zorlu on board Turkish President Bayar’s yacht; no record of the conversation has been found. Herter and his party left for Athens at 6:20 p.m.; for text of his departure statement, see ibid., page 841. For a summary of the entire Ministerial Meeting, see Document 256.

On his arrival in Washington on May 6, Herter made a brief statement summarizing his impressions of the CENTO and NATO meetings; see Department of State Bulletin, May 23, 1960, pages 841–842. Merchant made an oral report to the National Security Council at its May 9 meeting on preparations for the forthcoming summit meeting, including a full debriefing on the NATO Ministerial Meeting; the memorandum of discussion is printed in volume IX, Document 149.