Preface

The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. The series documents the facts and events that contributed to the formulation of policies and includes evidence of supporting and alternative views to the policy positions ultimately adopted.

The Historian of the Department of State is charged with the responsibility for the preparation of the Foreign Relations series. The staff of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, plans, researches, compiles, and edits the volumes in the series. This documentary editing proceeds in full accord with the generally accepted standards of historical scholarship. Official regulations codifying specific standards for the selection and editing of documents for the series were first promulgated by Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg on March 26, 1925. These regulations, with minor modifications, guided the series through 1991.

A new statutory charter for the preparation of the series was established by Public Law 102–138, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993, which was signed by President George Bush on October 28, 1991. Section 198 of P.L. 102–138 added a new Title IV to the Department of State’s Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 USC 4351, et seq.).

The statute requires that the Foreign Relations series be a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant United States diplomatic activity. The volumes of the series should include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation of major foreign policy decisions and actions of the United States Government, including facts that contributed to the formulation of policies and records that provided supporting and alternative views to the policy positions ultimately adopted.

The statute confirms the editing principles established by Secretary Kellogg: the Foreign Relations series is guided by the principles of historical objectivity and accuracy; records should not be altered or deletions made without indicating in the published text that a deletion has been made; the published record should omit no facts that were of major importance in reaching a decision; and nothing should be omitted for the purposes of concealing a defect in policy. The statute also requires that the Foreign Relations series be published not more than 30 years after the events recorded.

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Structure and Scope of the Foreign Relations Series

This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of the 5 years (1964–1968) of the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. In planning and preparing the 1964–1968 subseries of 34 volumes, the editors chose to present the official record of U.S. foreign policy with respect to Europe, the Soviet Union, and Canada in six volumes. Volume XVII, Eastern Europe (presented here) documents the basic record of U.S. relations with Czechoslovakia, the other states of Eastern Europe, and Finland and Austria. Volume XII, Western Europe and Canada, documents U.S. relations with Canada, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Volume XIII, Western Europe Region, documents U.S. policy regarding European political integration and U.S. participation in NATO. Volume XIV, Soviet Union, includes documentation on U.S.-Soviet bilateral relations. Volume XV, Berlin; German Question, documents U.S. involvement in the continuing Four-Power negotiations over divided Germany and the status of Berlin. Volume XVI, Cyprus; Greece; Turkey, documents U.S. efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem and its response to the constitutional crisis in Greece and subsequent coup d’etat.

Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation

The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, established under the Foreign Relations statute, reviews records, advises, and makes recommendations concerning the Foreign Relations series. The Advisory Committee monitors the overall compilation and editorial process of the series and advises on all aspects of the preparation and declassification of the series. Although the Advisory Committee does not attempt to review the contents of individual volumes in the series, it does monitor the overall process and makes recommendations on particular problems that come to its attention.

Declassification Review

The declassification review of this volume in 1995 resulted in the decision to withhold less than one-half of one percent of the documentation originally selected. The absence of the withheld information does not compromise the accuracy of the account of the main lines of U.S. policy toward Eastern Europe during the 1964–1968 period presented here.

The Division of Historical Documents Review of the Office of Freedom of Information, Privacy, and Classification Review, Bureau of Administration, Department of State, conducted the declassification review of the documents published in this volume. The review was conducted in accordance with the standards set forth in Executive Order [Page V] 12356 on National Security Information, which was superseded by Executive Order 19528 on April 20, 1995, and applicable laws.

Under Executive Order 12356, information that concerns one or more of the following categories, and the disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause damage to the national security, requires classification:

1)

military plans, weapons, or operations;

2)

the vulnerabilities or capabilities of systems, installations, projects, or plans relating to the national security;

3)

foreign government information;

4)

intelligence activities (including special activities), or intelligence sources or methods;

5)

foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States;

6)

scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to national security;

7)

U.S. Government programs for safeguarding nuclear materials or facilities;

8)

cryptology; or

9)

a confidential source.

The principle guiding declassification review is to release all information, subject only to the current requirements of national security as embodied in law and regulation. Declassification decisions entailed concurrence of the appropriate geographic and functional bureaus in the Department of State, other concerned agencies of the U.S. Government, and the appropriate foreign governments regarding specific documents of those governments.

Acknowledgments

The editors wish to acknowledge the assistance of officials at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, and other specialized repositories who assisted in the collection of documents for this volume.

James E. Miller collected, selected, and edited all the material pre-sented in this volume. Former General Editor Glenn W. LaFantasie supervised the final steps in the editorial and publication process. Rita M. Baker did the copy and technical editing and Barbara-Ann Bacon of the Publishing Services Division oversaw the production of the volume. Breffni Whelan prepared the index.