Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

the OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE 12065, WASHINGTON State By DEB NLT, Date 9-4-8 Dept. E.O. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 April 16, 1952 SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS AUSTRIAN We have informed our Embassies in London, Paris and TREATY Vienna that we feel full use should be made of the con- trast between the Soviets eagerness to exploit the Ger- man situation, from which they hope to gain an advantage, and their reluc- tance to deal with the Austrian situation, which poses obvious difficulties for them. We therefore propose that prior to answering the latest Soviet note on Germany the Western powers should despatch a note to the Soviets requesting a reply to their note of March 13 concerning an abbreviated treaty with Austria. We have suggested a draft text of the note which would point out that: 1) negotiations for an Austrian treaty have dragged on through several hundred meetings since 1947 without reaching final agreement; 2) the March 13 proposal provides a basis for an immediate and equitable settlement; 3) since March 10th the Soviet Government has sent two notes on the German peace treaty professing its desire to strengthen peace in Europe, and its failure to reply to our proposal for an Austrian treaty, which would also relieve a constant source of tension, is difficult to understand; and 4) we request that the Soviets' views on our March 13 note be made known to us at the first opportunity. SOVIET NOTE The British Foreign Office has expressed its preliminary view to Embassy London that the latest Soviet note on the German peace treaty contains nothing new and that our reply need not depart substantially from our first note. It points out however that we must bear in mind the effect of our reply not only on the signing of the EDC treaty and the contractual relations agreement, but also on the ratification of these agreements. Therefore we must take into account possible Soviet moves during the period of several months which will elapse between the signature and the ratification. The Foreign Office believes the Soviets hope to elicit a refusal from the Western powers to enter into discussions, which their next moves would exploit, since such a refusal would gravely prejudice ratification by the German Bundestag. EGYPT Embassy London reports that British Ambassador Stevenson in Cairo and Egypt's Prime Minister Hilali have reached agreement SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION