Office of the Historian

840.00/7–2949: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom

secret
[Washington,] July 29, 1949—2 p.m.

2657.1 Dept notes from urtel 2892 July 222 that Fr have urged for second time admission of Saar to Council of Europe (ref also Paris [Page 480] tel 3038 July 243). Member Fr Emb staff here recently informed Dept rep of Fr interest in this matter.4

While question is not one which directly concerns US, for your guidance, Dept does not favor Fr proposal. We have strictly reserved our position re polit status of Saar pending decision in final peace settlement. We view Fr proposal as politically inexpedient and, if adopted, it cannot be allowed to prejudice our freedom of decision on eventual status of Saar. Furthermore, Dept believes membership of Ger in Council of Europe will help reintegrate Ger in Eur community and admission of Saar to Council wld prejudice this most important ultimate goal in Dept’s opinion.5

Foregoing for your background info only, in case you are approached on this matter, as we do not wish to give impression we are interfering in affairs of Council of Europe.

Acheson
  1. Repeated to Paris as 2774, Berlin as 840, Rome as 1662, Brussels as 919, and The Hague as 653.↩
  2. Not printed, but see footnote 1 to telegram 2927, supra.↩
  3. Not printed.↩
  4. Under reference here is a conversation between Wapler and Douglas Mac-Arthur, the Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs, on July 19 at which the French Counselor expressed his country’s desire to include the Saar in the Council of Europe. A memorandum of this conversation is in file 840.00/7–1949.↩
  5. In telegram 1240, August 7, from Berlin, not printed, Hays and Riddleberger expressed their opinions that admission of the Saar before Western Germany would be most unwise, since it would have widespread political repercussions in Germany. (840.00/8–749)↩