868.10/3–2951
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Perkins)1
Subject: United States Interim Assistance for Yugoslavia
| Participants: | Ambassador Popovic, Yugoslav Embassy |
| Mr. Filipovic, Yugoslav Embassy | |
| EUR—Mr. Perkins | |
| EE—Mr. Truesdell |
Ambassador Popovic called at our request to receive a reply to his note to the Department of March 29 requesting economic assistance for raw materials.2 I handed the Ambassador the attached note notifying him of the aid which had been authorized by the President in the early part of the week, namely up to $29 million [Page 1784] from MDAP funds.3 The Ambassador expressed on behalf of his Government appreciation for the attitude of the Government of the United States and its understanding of the Yugoslav need. He said that the people of Yugoslavia will receive this assistance with gratitude and the relations between the two Governments will be more firmly cemented thereby.
Ambassador Popovic then took the occasion to discuss briefly the longer term needs of his Government. He said that he was not familiar with the negotiations between the Yugoslav and British Governments concerning a four million pound credit4 and did not know whether or not that credit was to cover the Yugoslav needs for the second and third quarters of this year. However, he wished to inquire specifically as to what period would be covered by the $29 million program from the United States and whether or not any further aid authorized by the Congress would be available by August. I advised him that it is highly probable that Far Eastern matters may take up a large portion of the time of the interested Congressional Committees but, on the other hand, it was too early to tell whether or not there would be any appreciable delay. The Ambassador asked specifically whether the Executive Branch of the Government would approach the Congress in view of the Mac-Arthur situation.5 I replied that as far as I know there had been no change in the thinking of the Administration but on the other hand no decision on this matter had been reached. The Ambassador then asked what amount of aid could be expected to be presented to the Congress for Yugoslavia. I replied that studies were continuing in London6 and would probably go on for two or three weeks more at the end of which time it should be possible to know more concerning the Yugoslav needs for the next fiscal year. I said that we hoped to obtain the agreement of other Western countries to join in the assistance program for Yugoslavia.
The Ambassador then asked if the Department was familiar with the agreement reached between the Yugoslav Government and the IBRD. In reply the Ambassador was told that the Department was only generally informed and had little information beyond that [Page 1785] supplied by the Yugoslav Embassy. Ambassador Popovic stated that he had been informed by Mr. Black of the IBRD that the bank would go ahead with the first tranche when the United States had made known the amount of aid which it would supply. He said that he had talked with Mr. Black yesterday but that he was very vague. In this connection the Ambassador asked if Mr. Perkins could give him any information as to the attitude of the United States Government toward the International Bank loan. In reply I told the Ambassador that it was my understanding that the bank wished to see first the results of the London discussions. I said that the bank might be able to proceed when the Administration decided to approach the Congress or, perhaps, it would wish to wait until the Congress had appropriated the funds. The Ambassador stated that the IBRD situation was serious and the questions he was asking were most important to his Government. He then repeated his understanding that the bank would go ahead when the United States Government had acted. I advised him that the note which I had just handed him in which the United States expressed its willingness to utilize up to $29 million in MDAP funds was an interim arrangement to meet immediate needs pending the working out of an over-all program. The Ambassador was advised that the two representatives of the IBRD, who were in London, were not joining formally in the discussions but had gone to London to answer certain questions which the United States and British Governments had put to the Bank and which the Bank felt could not be answered by formal correspondence. The Ambassador appeared satisfied with the above explanation.
I then referred the Ambassador to the bilateral agreement concerning MDAP raw materials assistance signed in Belgrade on April 177 under which the Yugoslav Government agreed to “take all appropriate measures to enable it to become independent of extraordinary outside assistance”. I stated emphatically that this Government viewed this provision with great seriousness and would from time to time request certain information bearing on Yugoslav compliance with its terms. I said that the information would be requested in Belgrade and that the Yugoslav Government should start working on this well in advance to show that it was doing its part to meet its needs.
The Ambassador then asked whether the Congressional program of raw materials assistance would be on a quarterly or annual basis and how it would be administered. In reply he was told that the money would be appropriated probably to the ECA and that allotments would be made perhaps quarterly by the ECA to meet [Page 1786] Yugoslav needs based on the evidence of necessity presented. He was told that although appropriations are made by the Congress a recipient country is never sure that the money is available for expenditures and hence that it was necessary for the Yugoslav Government to be prepared to provide the necessary justifications. The Ambassador replied that he was not particularly concerned about this aspect as he was sure that the necessary information would be made available readily.
- Drafted by Truesdell.↩
- Regarding this note, see the memorandum of conversation by Perkins, Document 883.↩
- The brief note, dated April 19, is not printed. Regarding President Truman’s action on April 16 authorizing additional assistance for Yugoslavia, see the editorial note, supra.↩
- These British-Yugoslav negotiations ended in an agreement on May 10 which provided for a four-million pound credit to Yugoslavia for the purchase of raw materials.↩
- For documentation concerning the relief of General MacArthur as Commander in Chief in the Korean theater, announced by President Truman on April 11, see volume vii.↩
- This is a reference to the U.S.–U.K. talks on economic aid to Yugoslavia which began in London on April 9. Regarding these meetings, see Document 870.↩
- Regarding this agreement, see the editorial note, supra.↩