165. Memorandum of Conversation0
SUBJECT
- South Tyrol
PARTICIPANTS
- Dr. Ludwig Steiner, Austrian Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs
- Dr. Kurt Waldheim, Director of Western Political Affairs, Austrian Foreign Ministry
- Dr. Wilfried Platzer, Ambassador of Austria
- The Under Secretary
- WE—Mr. William E. Knight, II
State Secretary Steiner and Ambassador Waldheim called on the Under Secretary in the course of a “get acquainted” trip to Washington. On the subject of the South Tyrol, Dr. Steiner said that the Austrian Government hoped that a final settlement acceptable to the people of the area of the South Tyrol would result from the work of the Italian study commission recently established under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of the Interior. However, the work of this commission could hardly be [Page 363] completed before next March at the earliest. In the meantime, the Austrian Government desired an agreement with the Italians on peaceful methods of settlement to be adopted should the commission fail to achieve a solution. Foreign Minister Kreisky had made two specific proposals in this regard to Foreign Minister Segni in New York:1 1) that a mediator be chosen to make recommendations on a procedure for peaceful settlement; or 2) that a “conciliation and arbitration” committee be set up to deal with the substance of the dispute. He said there had been no response from the Italians as yet to this proposal but that the Austrian Government would be in further bilateral touch with the Italians before the October 23 deadline when the “truce” on the General Assembly debate would expire.