Office of the Historian

171. Intelligence Information Cable1

[document number not declassified]
Bucharest, November 21, 1968.

COUNTRY

  • Rumania/USSR

DOI

  • November 1968

SUBJECT

  • Comments of a [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] diplomat concerning current negotiations between Rumania and the Soviet Union with respect to military matters

ACQ

  • 20 November 1968

SOURCE

  • [8 lines of source text not declassified]
1.
On 20 November 1968 a senior member of the [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] to the United Nations who is known to be affiliated [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] intelligence discussed current Rumanian-Soviet relations. The [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] official stated that at the present time the discussions between Rumania and the USSR concerning military matters, notably the presence of Warsaw Pact troops in Rumania, have reached a critical stage. In these discussions which have involved a recent trip to Moscow (29–30 October 1968) by the Rumanian Minister of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Ion Ionita, and simultaneous negotiations in Moscow and Bucharest, the Soviet Union has requested:
a.
The right to station troops permanently in Rumania;
b.
Rumanian approval of the passage of Soviet troops through Rumania at any time at the request of the USSR; and
c.
Rumanian approval for the conduct of Warsaw Pact maneuvers in Rumania in the near future.
2.
The [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] stated that in their negotiations with the Rumanian Government the Soviet officials had emphasized the following considerations:
a.
That as a Warsaw Pact member Rumania is obligated to cooperate with the other Warsaw Pact members in undertaking actions aimed at [Page 462] furthering the objectives of the Warsaw Pact; all three items raised with Rumania fall in this category.
b.
The actions in question must be undertaken in the near future and not postponed because they constitute essential portions of the military dispositions necessary to protect the Warsaw Pact area from “possible military movement from the direction of Yugoslavia.”
3.
The [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] stated that the Rumanian Government currently finds itself in a very difficult situation vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, but [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] the government does not intend to accede to the three requests by the USSR.
4.
Field dissem: None (also sent USUN).
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Romania, Possible Warsaw Pact Invasion. Secret; No Foreign Dissemination; Controlled Dissemination; No Dissemination Abroad; Background Use Only.↩