768.00/2–751
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Western European Affairs (Byington)
Subject: Yugoslavia
| Participants: | Mr. Luciolli, Counselor, Italian Embassy |
| Mr. Byington, WE |
Mr. Luciolli brought with him clippings of recent articles by Mr. Reston, Mr. Lippmann and Mr. Alsop, concerning recent political developments with regard to Yugoslavia. He was particularly interested in the New York Times story by Mr. Reston referring to current tripartite discussions with regard to that country. Mr. Luciolli pointed out that his government was adjacent to and intimately connected with all political matters affecting the Yugoslav Government and that the Foreign Office would be gravely concerned should Italy be left out of important conversations regarding future policy towards Tito. If military assistance were to be given to Yugoslavia it seemed to the Italian Government that Italy’s geographic position would make it desirable from the interest of all Western European governments that Italy should be consulted. He expressed his conviction that the Italian Government agreed fully with our policy concerning Yugoslavia and that Tito should be assisted to preserve independence of his government against the Cominform. He had received the substance of the NATO conversations [Page 1725] on this matter and inquired what I could tell him with regard to the discussions between the UK, France and the US, as reported in the press.
I said that as far as I knew no formal conversations were underway on this matter between the three governments he had mentioned. Any exchange of views that had taken place would have been of a most informal nature and in all probability of no further extent than that undertaken in the NATO. I said that the Department was fully aware of the Italian Government’s interest in this problem and I would make inquiries to see whether there was anything more to these press stories than what I had told him. I said that the whole question of Yugoslavia was of course under continuous study within the Department and that we were as fully concerned over possible future developments as were the other members of the NATO.1
- Other Western European diplomatic representatives called at the Department of State in connection with newspaper reports regarding possible measures to ensure the security of Yugoslavia. Norwegian First Secretary Aaars called on Campbell on February 5 and 6 (memorandum of conversation, February 5 and 6, 611.68/2–651); Greek Ambassador Politis called on McGhee on February 6 (memorandum of conversation, February 6, 768.5/2–651); Danish Embassy Counselor Hessellund-Jensen called on Benjamin M. Hulley on February 9 (memorandum of conversation, February 9, 768.5/2–951); and Swedish First Secretary Per Lind called on Higgs on February 7 (memorandum of conversation, February 7, 468.118/2–751). The responses to the foreign representatives were substantially the same as Byington’s comments to Luciolli.↩