268. Despatch From the Legation in Romania to the Department of State1
SUBJECT
- Conference with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandru Lazareanu
On Thursday, October 3, I was received by Deputy Foreign Minister Lazareanu, with whom I had originally asked an appointment in connection with the U.S. exhibit “Built in USA” (Legdes No. 170, October 92). After a brief discussion on this matter, during which he confirmed the agreement to open the exhibit on January 18, 1958, I told Mr. Lazareanu I would like to take this opportunity of expressing my current personal views on the status of relations between the United States and Rumania and that after the recent conferences I had had in Washington3 I could say that I was also reflecting the views of my Government.
I reviewed what had transpired during the last two years since I had come to Bucharest emphasizing that during this period I had done everything possible to recommend to my Government that favorable replies be made to Rumanian requests in matters in which the Rumanian Government was substantively interested, because I felt that the United States should make a serious effort to indicate the sincerity of its desire to improve relations between our two governments. These efforts had unfortunately been interrupted by the events in Hungary, but as soon as the international situation warranted it they had been resumed. I mentioned the cooperation we had given in granting visas to Rumanian agricultural experts desiring to go to the United States to transact business with Mr. Garst and study American agricultural practices; the visit of Rumanian chemists which had resulted in negotiations for the acrilon plant and the favorable reply from the Department of Commerce for an export license; the granting permission for the appointment of a high ranking Rumanian officer in the Department of Trade as Economic Counselor; and finally, the granting of visas to a trade delegation composed of some of the highest [Page 666] ranking officers in the economic field in the Rumanian Government to visit America and examine any and all possible trade opportunities. All of those things I stressed were matters in which the Rumanian Government was deeply interested and in all of these matters I had urged my Government to give favorable responses and they had done so. In return, I asked, what had the American Government received? It is true that relations and friends of myself and members of my Legation staff had been granted visas to make visits to Rumania; that I had been given the United States Air Force plane; and that the Rumanian Government had been very courteous in affording myself and my staff from time to time personal conveniences. But these it seemed to me were not matters of substantive value but were simply courtesies which any government is accustomed to offer every day to representatives of countries with whom it has diplomatic relations irrespective of the political differences which may exist between them. To the matters in which the United States Government was substantively interested as keenly as was the Rumanian Government in the question of trade, either definite negative replies or no replies at all had been received, or else we had been told that these questions must be settled only in the context of the settlement of all the problems between our two countries. The record, I pointed out, thus showed that although the United States Government had done everything in its power to show a friendly attitude and a desire to improve relations, the Rumanian Government only had given lip service without granting a single substantive request we had made. We had asked for such simple things as the opening of a reading room and the publication of a magazine about America, two things which were freely granted in many other Communist countries such as Poland and Yugoslavia and yet even these had been turned down.
I finally said that under the circumstances it was logical for me to feel that the Rumanian Government was not sincere in its expressions of desire for an improvement of relations with the United States, and that I saw no reason, unless the Rumanian Government was prepared to make a gesture in the case of both or part of the two matters I mentioned, the publication of the magazine and the opening of a reading room, why I should continue to recommend to my Government that favorable replies be made to requests from the Rumanian Government and that at the present moment I was inclined not to make any such recommendations until after some affirmative action was taken by the Rumanian Government.
Mr. Lazareanu at once launched into a long harangue with all the familiar phrases about co-existence, non-interference in internal affairs, etc. etc. He claimed that insofar as trade was concerned the United States had no right to consider any of the things I had mentioned as the granting of a substantive request since in all of these [Page 667] instances the United States benefited from any trade arrangement that was made by the receipt of dollars in return for goods. I interrupted to point out that trade was a question of both export and import and that unfortunately Rumania did not produce products which interested American consumers. Mr. Lazareanu went on to say that the Rumanian Government had originally brought up the question of claims but that we had insisted on adding other problems to the discussions, that we had had these discussions but they had led nowhere. He said that the Rumanian Government was still interested in settling the question of claims and pointed out, as evidence of how important it was for matters such as these to be settled first, that as soon as Rumania and France had come to an agreement on how to settle claims they had made great advances in other directions including negotiations to open a library. I replied that the position of the United States on the matter of claims was very clear, that the existing laws which had been passed as a result of the failure of the Rumanians to reply to the U.S. Government requests under the peace treaty prevented us from settling individual claims at the present time, but that we were always ready to discuss the question of lump settlement. I suggested that Mr. Lazareanu review the record of the conferences that were held last October4 which very clearly set forth the position of the United States and that position had not changed.
Mr. Lazareanu went on to discuss the question of claims at great length and it was apparent from this discussion that this is the one subject in which the Rumanian Government is most interested at the present time and which it will doubtless attempt to press to some conclusion at an early date.
At the end of the discussion Mr. Lazareanu said he would be glad to report to his Government my point of view in the matter. I said I hoped we could get some specific reply on the question of the publication of the magazine or the opening of the reading room and he said I would be advised as soon as a reply was available.
From this conference and other snatches of conversations I have had with Rumanian officials it is apparent to me that the Rumanian Government is still anxious to have a formal agreement of some kind with the United States as a matter of prestige. The Rumanian Government at the moment is preoccupied in attempting to build up its stature in the world as an active forceful country, taking a vigorous part in world affairs and completely free and independent of any outside influence, particularly that of the Soviet Union. Harrison Salisbury, of the New York Times, has reported the naive attempt of Rumanian officials to present all phases of Rumanian life as being free [Page 668] of Soviet influence or direction. (Legtel No. 152 of September 9, 1957.5 ) An agreement with the United States would go far to helping put over this idea. The facts in my opinion are of course directly opposite. I believe that the Soviets exert a far greater control and direction on Rumanian affairs than appears on the surface. I see no reason why the United States should assist the Rumanians in achieving their objective of presenting this false facade by dignifying them with a firm agreement on a question such as claims, unless such an agreement would bring a substantive advantage to U.S. citizens, the owners of such claims, and this I very much doubt would be the case. In any event, I do not believe that any negotiations should be started until the Rumanians have shown their good faith by granting some substantive requests such as the publication of a magazine or the opening of a reading room.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.66/10–957. Confidential.↩
- Not printed. (Ibid., 511.662/10–957)↩
- Thayer was in Washington in September 1957.↩
- These meetings took place from October 15 to November 3, 1956; see footnote 2, Document 139.↩
- Not printed. (Department of State, Central Files, 766.13/9–3057)↩