Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Berlin Crisis, 1958–1959, Volume VIII

364. Delegation Record of Meeting⁰

Geneva, June 5, 1959, 9:30 a.m.

SMALL DELEGATION MEETING

PRESENT

• The Secretary
• Secretary McElroy
• Mr. Merchant
• Ambassador Thompson
• Mr. Becker
• Mr. Berding
• Mr. Irwin
• Mr. Reinhardt
• Mr. Smith
• Mr. Sullivan
• Mr. Wilcox
• Mr. Krebs

Possible Visit by Mayor Brandt to Geneva

1. Mr. Merchant said that Senator Klein of Berlin has returned to Geneva and told Hillenbrand this morning that Mayor Brandt was unhappy about the extent to which the German Foreign Office was keeping him informed about the Conference.¹ Klein said that Brandt would be happy to come to Geneva on Monday on his way to Paris for an engagement on Tuesday. Mr. Merchant thought it would be excellent if the Secretary were to invite Brandt to a lunch to be attended also by Couve, Lloyd and von Brentano. The Secretary said he thought this was a very good idea. Ambassador Thompson suggested, however, that, since Brandt might be expected to make some public statements on the Conference in Paris, it might be preferable to ask Brandt to come to Geneva after his visit to Paris. The Secretary indicated agreement.

Norstad’s Views on Limitation of Forces in Berlin

2. Mr. Merchant called attention to a telegram from Paris² reporting General Norstad’s concern over a possible agreement involving the reduction of allied forces in Berlin. Mr. Irwin observed that General Norstad was concerned about quantitative limitations on allied forces in Berlin and said it was not clear whether Norstad was referring to a ceiling on troop strength at present levels or to a reduction of forces.

Tactical Matters

3. Mr. Merchant said that as of last night neither Couve nor Lloyd had a prepared statement for today’s plenary. There was some discussion of the US draft of a common declaration on Berlin,³ Mr. Becker indicating that he thought it not desirable to discuss it at the Coordinating Group meeting today⁴ since it was essentially a fall-back paper. Mr. Merchant agreed, noting that the paper needed reworking. The Secretary observed that the reference in paragraph 1 of the declaration to reunification should be lifted out and made a separate paragraph. Mr. Merchant said it might be desirable to use the paper at the private session on Saturday, and the Secretary added that Couve hoped we could use it at that time.

Illegal Communist Activities in West Berlin

4. There was extensive discussion of the desirability of the Secretary making a statement at the plenary today on illegal communist activities in East Berlin. The Secretary thought that, if we could not add a great deal to what Berlin Interior Senator Lipschitz had said to the press yesterday about the Senat White Paper it might not be desirable for him to make such a statement. Mr. Berding expressed the view that it would be useful to put on the record our data on these activities, noting that to date only one side of the picture had been presented. Both Ambassador Thompson and Mr. Merchant indicated that they thought this material had been fairly well got into public channels. The Secretary then suggested that we might see how his draft speech dovetailed with the material made public by the West Berlin Government, particularly making sure that we do not appear to be echoing the Germans. The Secretary remarked that a decision had been reached two days ago for him to speak at the plenary on the subject but that this was before Senator Lipschitz’s press conference.

Press Leaks

5. Mr. Berding said that Hightower of the AP had told him that he had had from “British and French sources” information about yestersay’s private session. Mr. Berding also called attention to the AFP account in the Journal de Geneve of yesterday’s private meeting. He emphasized that the US had scrupulously abided by the agreement on no publicity about the private meetings and said that British and French action made it much harder for us. Mr. Merchant said that we could not forget that we have a bludgeon to use on the British and French. We can say that the leaks have become so regular and accurate, and that we are so satisfied that the US is not to blame, that the only way for us to proceed would be for the Secretary to deal with Gromyko alone. He admitted that this was a heavy stick, but he thought we should not forget that we have it in our closet. The Secretary observed that it was interesting that Gromyko had not directly asked to see him alone. Mr. Bundy noted that there have been certain indirect approaches in this respect.

[Here follow paragraphs 6 and 7 on unrelated subjects.]

UN Role in Berlin Settlement

8. Mr. Wilcox said he thought that if we reached the stage where we begin drafting a communiqué on the Foreign Ministers’ Conference, it would be desirable to bear in mind making some reference to the UN. He thought it important to do so: 1) because of charges that the Administration pays only lip service to the UN; and 2) in view of the danger of the Berlin situation, prospects for lessening friction might be increased if the UN were to assume some kind of minor role in the area. The Secretary commented that the discussions to date have not lent themselves to consideration of a UN role. He thought Mr. Wilcox had a valid point and that if we had some agreement to be carried out, then we might draw on the UN. Mr. Smith agreed that it would be desirable to get across the point that the US would not object to some kind of international presence in Berlin. The Secretary pointed out, however, that the terms of reference were very important and indicated that mere generalization would not be desirable. The UN itself, he said, would not accept the role unless it knew exactly what was involved. Mr. Merchant suggested that if Gromyko were to pick up the declaratory passage in Stage I of the Western Peace Plan, then we might in the communiqué recite language of the UN Charter and induce the Soviets to reaffirm their Charter obligations.

0. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1367. Secret. The meeting was held in Conference Room 209 of the Consulate General Annex.
1. A memorandum of Hillenbrand’s conversation with Klein at 8:30 a.m., US/MC/78, is ibid., CF 1339.
2. Telegram 4469 from Paris, June 4. (Ibid., Central Files, 762.00/6—459)
3. For text of this draft, transmitted in Cahto 78 from Geneva, June 6, see Document 372, and footnotes 3 and 4 thereto.
4. A memorandum of the conversation at the Coordinating Group meeting at 10:30 a.m. during which the Deputies reviewed many of the points discussed here by the U.S. Delegation, US/MC/81, is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1367.