857.01/52
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
The Norwegian Minister came in to see me today, at his request. He said that he had previously advised the President, personally, that the royal Norwegian Government had moved to London. He handed me a note, dated June 25th,33 confirming that message.
He added that the government in England was acting under full constitutional powers, and, under constitutional procedure of the Norwegian Storthing, which had authorized the King to remain more than six months out of the country.
[Page 174]He said, further, that he had seen reports indicating that the “enemy” (i. e., the German authorities) were endeavoring to set up a pretended government in Norway, and that he had no doubt they would endeavor to create the appearance that it was supported by the Norwegian people. He wished to state that his government did not consider that any government could be set up by the Norwegian people under the existing circumstances, and that he hoped that we would continue to recognize the government in London as the Government of Norway.
I said that I had likewise heard these reports; that naturally we could not express a decision in advance of the facts. We had, however, in other cases, taken into consideration the fact of duress occasioned by military invasion and I had no doubt that due weight would be given to that fact in any decision which was finally made.
- Not printed.↩