Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NCT/MAVAL AIDE) 440 DECLASSIFIED ( E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-1mg OFFICE OF State Dept. Guidelines, March i, STAE SECRETARY OF STATE By. DETB NLT, Date 9-11-85 WASHINGTON December 9, 1952 TOP SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS TRIESTE Our Ambassador in Rome has discussed with Prime Minister De Gasperi our proposal to settle the Trieste problem by a division along the present zonal boundary lines, with the possibility of minor adjustments. The Italian leader indicated he could not accept a line such as we proposed. He said, "I am giving you my first reaction. I could accept the lines, but my Government would have to resign, and unfortunately there is no successor' To De Gasperi the problem is not one of territory, but of the number of Italians remaining in the Yugoslav zone and the nature of the other coastal towns. He said there were 35,000 to 40,000 Italians living in this area and that there were already 35,000 refugees in the US-UK zone. The Prime Minister felt it would be impossible to transfer that many Italians into Italy, adding that the character of the coastal towns was not only Italian in population, but in a political and social sense also. When Prime Minister De Gasperi asked whether the Secretary planned to take up the Trieste question in Paris at the time of the December NATO meeting, our envoy stated he had no information to that effect. The Italian leader asked to keep our map and the description of the proposed line until the next day for study and told an aide to prepare a memorandum on the ethnic situation in the coastal section of the Yugoslav zone. In spite of the apparent firmness of his initial rejection, Ambassador Bunker thinks there is still a chance that De Gasperi will agree to a solution approximating the one we have proposed. However, Bunker is reserving further comment until we know whether the Italian Prime Minister will give a definitive reply now or await an opportunity to talk with the Secretary in Paris. TOF SEGRET SECURITY INFORMATTON