768.5–MAP/10–3051
The Acting Secretary of State to the President 1
Memorandum for the President
Subject: Military and Economic Aid to Yugoslavia under the Mutual Security Act of 1951
As directed by NSC 18/6,2 which you approved on March 9, 1951, steps have been taken by appropriate agencies of the Government to provide grant military assistance to Yugoslavia. An initial program totaling $77.5 million consisting primarily of ordnance items intended to fill deficiencies in the present Yugoslav military establishment is now being prepared for shipment; some of the items contained in this program are now ready for delivery. This matériel will be transferred under Section 101 (a) (1) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951.
Economic assistance will also be provided Yugoslavia under Section 101 (a) (2), in accordance with policy established in NSC 18/6 and with the agreed US-British-French program3 to help Yugoslavia cover its current balance of payments deficit for the period up to June 30, 1952.
In order to provide Yugoslavia military and economic aid under subparagraphs (1) and (2), respectively, of Section 101 (a), however, [Page 1859] you must determine that Yugoslavia is of direct importance to the defense of the North Atlantic area and that Yugoslavia’s increased ability to defend itself is important to the preservation of the peace and security of the North Atlantic area and to the security of the United States. You are also required to inform the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House and Senate Committees on the Armed Services of these determinations.
It is recommended that you make these determinations.
For your convenience, there is attached a memorandum giving further information concerning this problem.4 There is also attached a suggested letter which contains the required determinations and constitutes the necessary notification to the Chairman of each of the four Congressional committees.5
- A covering memorandum by Ohly to the Secretary of State requested his signature for this memorandum.↩
- Not cleared for publication at the time this volume went to press.↩
- This is a reference to the Final Report of the Tripartite Official Conversations Concerning Economic Aid to Yugoslavia, Document 906.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Not printed. On November 7, President Truman sent identical letters to Richard B. Russell, James P. Richards, Tom Connally, and Carl Vinson, Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the House Committee on Armed Services, respectively. For text of these letters, released to the press by the White House on November 7, see Department of State Bulletin, November 19, 1951, p. 826.↩