Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLT (Naval Aide) 9 DEPARTMENT OF STATE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON February 7, 1950 0 C T SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS BELGIUM Ambassador Murphy in Brussels reports that Belgian official opinion is "profoundly disappointed and discouraged" over the results of the recent Paris OEEC meetings, and that public opinion will probably follow along the lines of the official views. Belgian officials have stressed to Murphy their belief that the US stand at Paris was feeble and meek, and that, after a public position of firm- ness had been taken, Hoffman and Harriman accepted "Cripps dictation" without a word of protest. In the view of Belgian Foreign Minister Van Zeeland and Spaak, the US failed to utilize its very strong position, and they regard such failure as evidence of lack of American conviction and determination. The Belgians anticipate that the British will con- tinue to crack the whip during the coming year, exercising the threat of a sterling bloc boycott to bring pressure to bear on countries like Belgium and Italy. In the Belgian opinion, funds to be appropriated by the US Congress will as a consequence make little or no contribution toward European unification, and the UK will continue to make gestures of cooperation while endeavoring to continue with US aid its old policy of "divide and conquer. Murphy points out that such an attitude may lead Belgium to endeavor to profit as much as possible from the OEEC while ignoring the larger questions of European unity, and he adds his agreement with the Belgian opinion that suspension of ECA allocations to countries which fail to measure up to basic US policies may be worth trying. USSR Embassy Moscow reports that the New York Times despatch from Moscow which recapitulated the Soviet position on two- power discussions of atomic energy controls was delayed for 36 hours before being cleared by the Soviet censor. The Times correspondent believes that such a long delay indicates that the despatch was given high-level consideration, and its release suggests that the USSR: 1) has made no change in its attitude on two-power negotiations; and 2) may welcome the opportunity to restate its policy with a view to eliciting current US reactions. INDIA Embassy New Delhi reports that any suggestion by the US DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 T 0-P E E T By DEB NLT, Date 5-13-85