Editorial Note
On the afternoon of February 21, the Department of State released to the press the text of the Legation in Sofia’s note of February 20 to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, quoted in the Secretary of State’s note of February 21 to Bulgarian Chargé Voutov, supra. At the same time the Department also issued to the press a statement reviewing those contributing factors leading to the suspension of diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. The statement presented information concerning the actions of the Bulgarian authorities against Bulgarian citizens employed by the Legation in Sofia who had been threatened, arrested, and tortured to extort fictitious confessions of espionage resulting in trials ending in death sentences for two former employees (Joseph Dimitrov and Dragan Peev) and the death of a third (Ivan Secoulov) in prison from torture or suicide. For the texts of the note and the statement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 6, 1950, pages 353–356. Regarding the fate of Dimitrov, Peev, and Secoulov, and other Bulgarian employees of the Legation arrested by the Bulgarian authorities, see telegram 102, January 25, from Sofia, page 508.
On February 21, the Department of State also issued to the press the statement on the case of Michael Shipkov referred to in the editorial note, page 517.
At his press conference on February 24, Secretary of State Acheson issued a statement reviewing the deterioration of the diplomatic relations of the United States with the countries of Eastern Europe, particularly Hungary and Bulgaria. For the text of the statement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 6, 1950, page 377.
On March 22, the Department of State announced that the Swiss Government had assumed the protection of American interests in Bulgaria and that the Polish Government had assumed the protection of Bulgarian interests in the United States. For the text of the announcement, see ibid., April 3, 1950, page 524.