Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Europe: Political and Economic Developments, Volume IV, Part 2

No. 914

768.56/7–1451

The Acting Secretary of Defense (Lovett) to the Secretary of State

top secret

Washington, 14 July, 1951.

Dear Mr. Secretary: It is understood that the Yugoslav Government on 28 June 1951 presented a formal request to this Government for military assistance on a grant basis under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.¹

As you are aware, conversations between Colonel General Popovich and representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the subject were recently concluded in Washington. A copy of the memorandum of agreement signed at the conclusion of these conversations is transmitted for your information.² As your Department was advised by memoranda dated 30 April³ and 18 May 1951,⁴ these conversations were not to involve any commitment on the part of the United States. The U.S. Government is not obliged to accept the recommendations of the military staff conferees.

Points 1 and 2 of the recommendations are currently being implemented in this department. Action on Point 5 will be taken by this department in due course subsequent to the signing of the bilateral agreement for MDAP aid. No interdepartmental action in these matters appears necessary now. Point 6 repeats the recommendation detailed in paragraph 4 of the Department of Defense memorandum dated 30 April 1951 to Mr. Matthews (Eyes Only). It is requested that you complete or initiate the arrangements requested therein.

The Department of Defense is not prepared to accept the recommendations set forth in Point 4. It is believed that the bilateral agreement and other administrative arrangements for the grant aid program to Yugoslavia should conform in substance to the pattern followed in other recipient countries for the following reasons:

a. The arrangement contemplated in Point 4c would be inadequate to safeguard the interests of the United States. A United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) should be established with guarantees by the Yugoslav Government as to its freedom to perform normal MAAG functions. The existing attaché staff not only has other full-time responsibilities, but is not technically competent to perform these functions. Augmentation, when agreed to by Yugoslavia, might meet this objection, but it would still not be sufficient for the U.S. personnel involved merely to be “kept regularly informed.”

b. The acceptance of the arrangement contemplated in Point 4c would probably have unfavorable repercussions in a number of other MDAP recipient countries, where the United States has insisted that they agree to the introduction of a MAAG for performance of its usual functions, despite the fact that such countries frequently have resisted this action as a means of avoiding United States scrutiny of their use of matériel aid.

It is believed that we should, in pursuance of the approved NSC policy, finalize an MDAP agreement with the Yugoslav Government if satisfactory arrangements can be made. A MAAG, or a substantive equivalent thereof, is a necessary part of those arrangements. There is no objection to procedures or measures of form, rather than of substance (such as use of civilian clothes, a minimum of publicity concerning the MAAG and its functions, and keeping the size of the MAAG to a minimum) designed to meet Yugoslav desires.

As to Point 3, the desires of this Department were stated in memoranda to Mr. Matthews dated 30 April,⁵ 15 May,⁶ and 15 June 1951.⁷ There is no objection to holding an initial conference in Washington. However, it is not likely that a conference in Washington will permit accomplishment of the purposes set forth in the memorandum of 30 April.

It is therefore recommended that:

a. The United States take the position that the agreement for MDAP assistance must provide for the substance of the normal U.S. legislative and policy requirements.

b. In the interests of maintenance of good faith and of avoiding misunderstanding, the full impact of all the requirements of the bilateral agreement, both explicit and implicit, be made clear to and agreed by the Yugoslav representatives.

c. The proposal in Point 3 be approved subject to Yugoslav agreement that a programming survey in Yugoslavia, either by a special U.S. Mission or by the MAAG personnel, is a condition of U.S. agreement to furnish assistance.

Robert A. Lovett

1. A copy of the Yugoslav note is in file 768.576–2851.
2. Not printed, but see footnote 2, Document 908.
3. Document 894.
4. Not printed.
5. Not printed, but see footnote 2, Document 894.
6. The memorandum of May 15 recommended that arrangements proceed immediately for the bilateral talks with the Yugoslav military delegation and stated that the Department of Defense had no objections to participation by one French and one British observer provided that this arrangement was reciprocal. (768.56/5–1551)
7. The memorandum of June 15 stated that the Department of Defense had no objection to a visit to Washington by a Yugoslav technical supply team but that this visit could only supplement, not replace, the technical talks desired in Yugoslavia. (768.56/6–1551)