ment does not wish to conclude an Austrian treaty at this time. despite the pledge which it made in the Moscow Declaration in 19431 to reestablish Austria as a free and independent nation. The efforts of the Western deputies to negotiate and conclude the treaty were unsuccessful and, in view of the impasse, the deputies adjourned, with the Western deputies agreeing to meet again on September 7. The Soviet deputy stated that it would be necessary for him to refer to his Government for consideration the Western proposal to meet again on September 7.

The British, French, and United States Foreign Ministers agreed at their meeting in London last May2 that their respective Governments are ready at any time to settle without delay all outstanding issues of the treaty provided that this will definitely bring about agreement on the treaty as a whole. The principles agreed upon by the three Foreign Ministers were communicated to the Soviet Government on June 123 in the hope that the Soviet Government would agree to associate itself with the program and that more definite progress in the solution of the Austrian problem might thus be achieved. No reply has been received from the Soviet Government to this approach.

The only true basis on which Austria can exercise full sovereignty is by four-power agreement and the withdrawal from Austrian soil of all forces of occupation. It is fundamental that the Government of the United States desires the achievement of this objective.

Soviet actions designed to prevent conclusion of the Austrian treaty must necessarily result in a delay in the fulfillment of Austria's desire, with which this Government is in full sympathy, to enjoy complete independence. Under these circumstances, the three Western Governments are endeavoring, within the framework of existing four-power agreements, to carry out such measures as may properly be taken to strengthen the authority of the Austrian Government and to lighten Austria's occupation burdens.

It should be borne in mind, in this connection, that any steps heretofore taken or to be taken by this Government to reduce Austria's occupation burdens are not regarded as a substitute for the treaty. Our actions, in this respect, are endeavors on our part to take such constructive measures as may properly be taken, pending conclusion of the treaty, to fulfill our obligations under the Control Agreement of 1946 which provides that the Allied Commission for Austria shall assist the freely elected Government of Austria to recreate a sound and democratic national life and to assume as quickly as possible full control of its own affairs of state.

1 A Decade of American Foreign Policy, p. 11.

2 See the tripartite declaration of May 19 1950; supra, doc. 72.

3 Supra.

4 Agreement of June 28, 1946; A Decade of American Foreign Policy, pp. 614-620.

75. STATEMENT RELEASED TO THE PRESS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DECEMBER 15, 19501

Once again, the deputies for the Austrian treaty have failed to make any progress because the Soviet representative persists in introducing irrelevant issues in order to avoid discussing the few and relatively minor articles of the treaty which remain unagreed. For over a year, the Soviets, by a series of stalling devices, have refused to discuss concrete issues. Again, they have used the Austrian discussions to talk about Trieste, an entirely unrelated matter. This development was hardly a surprise, in view of past Soviet tactics. The report, spread earlier this week, that the Soviets had requested the meeting, was incorrect-they merely agreed to a meeting proposed weeks ago by the Western deputies.

The United States remains determined to do all in its power to conclude an Austrian treaty but such a treaty is impossible until the Soviets agree and withdraw their occupation forces. Until they do so, the United States will be forced to keep its troops in Austria and will continue to live up to its obligations there. Unfortunately, the Austrians are still denied the freedom and independence which were long ago promised to them.

76. STATEMENT TO THE PRESS BY THE UNITED STATES HIGH COMMISSIONER,2 OCTOBER 31, 1951 3

4

3

The suggestion of the Austrian Government that the Deputy Foreign Ministers of the four occupying powers meet as early as possible to reach a definite agreement on the state treaty is particularly gratifying to me. It is consistent with the unswerving policy of the United States Government to terminate the occupation of Austria by means of a state treaty and is also in keeping with the statement of the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States in Washington on September 14.5

The United States Government remains firm in its conviction that the four occupying powers should sign and implement the state treaty without further delay and restore Austria to its rightful position as a sovereign nation. The people of Austria can continue to count upon the unqualified support of the United States Government in fulfilling the pledge undertaken at Moscow on November 1, 1943, for the restoration of a free and independent Austria.

I personally feel that the Soviets again have the opportunity to demonstrate their good faith in carrying out this agreement and in carrying it out without introducing any issues extraneous to the Austrian problem. It is a clear-cut issue: Either Austria is to be

1 Department of State Bulletin, Dec. 25, 1950, p. 1008.

2 Walter J. Donnelly.

3

Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 12, 1951, p. 768.

See the Austrian note of Oct. 31, 1951; ibid., pp. 768-769.

Supra, pp. 1721–1723.

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restored to its full independence and occupation is to be terminated, or this unfair occupation will continue.

There can be no doubt in the minds of the Austrian people that the United States Government has and will continue to press for the conclusion of the state treaty and withdrawal of troops from Austria. But, as I have said before, the United States will not withdraw until all of the occupying powers are prepared to do likewise.

77. NOTE FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE AUSTRIAN TREATY DEPUTIES TO THE SOVIET EMBASSY AT LONDON, JANUARY 24, 19521

I have the honor to state that I have been requested by the Deputies for the Austrian Treaty of France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America to inform you as follows:

The three Deputies have taken note that the Soviet Government wish to give further study to their communication of January 19th,2 and that in the meanwhile a Soviet representative is unable to attend a meeting of the Deputies for the Austrian Treaty.3

4

The three Deputies recall that a representative of the Soviet Government was invited on December 28, 1951 to attend such a meeting on January 21, 1952. On the eve of the proposed meeting the Soviet Government sent a reply making the attendance of the Soviet Deputy dependent on an assurance by the Western Deputies that they would agree to discuss certain issues having no relation to the conclusion of the Treaty. For nearly two years the Soviet Deputy has delayed agreement on the Treaty by his insistence upon prior consideration of these issues. The situation has now been further aggravated by the Soviet Government making acceptance of its conditions a prerequisite to a meeting.

The three Deputies regret that the failure of the Soviet Deputy to take part in the proposed meeting is continuing to delay the conclusion of the Austrian Treaty. Persistence of the Soviet Government in its present attitude would inevitably lead to the conclusion that the Soviet Government is deliberately seeking to obstruct the completion of the Austrian Treaty and the restoration of independence to the Austrian people.

The three Deputies still hope that a Soviet representative will be able to attend a meeting at an early date for the purpose of completing the Treaty. The chairman remains ready to call a meeting of the Deputies as soon as this can be mutually agreed.

1 Department of State Bulletin, Feb. 4, 1952, p. 160.

2 Ibid., Mar. 3, 1952, p. 327.

3 See the Soviet note of Jan. 21, 1952; ibid.

See the Soviet note of Jan. 18, 1952; ibid., pp. 326–327.

78. STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND FRANCE, FEBRUARY 28, 1952 1

The Governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are seriously concerned that arrangements which had been made for discussion by the deputies for the Austrian treaty to take place on the 21st of January for the purpose of concluding the treaty, were frustrated owing to the failure of the Soviet deputy to attend.2

The three Governments recall that Austria, the first country to be occupied by Hitler, was promised her freedom and independence in a declaration made in Moscow in the name of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1943.3 France associated herself with this declaration on the 16th of November 1943. The Governments then announced their determination that Austria should be liberated from German domination and reestablished as a free and independent country. Yet 8 years afterwards and despite 258 meetings of the deputies to conclude the treaty, Austria has not yet regained her full independence. Her laws are submitted to a foreign body before being passed, her communications are controlled and censored, and, above all, her territory is divided into zones occupied by foreign troops with all the economic and moral hardship on the Austrian people that this implies.

The Austrians ardently desire to see terminated a state of affairs which should rightly have ended long ago. The three Governments fully share this aspiration and consider that renewed efforts should be made to solve a problem with which the world ought no longer to be confronted. They are, therefore, urgently examining new proposals so that the Four Powers may be enabled to fulfill their pledge made in the Moscow Declaration to restore to Austria her full freedom and independence.

1 Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 10, 1952, pp. 379–380. In releasing the above statement at Washington, the Department of State emphasized that no consideration is being given to the conclusion of a separate treaty for Austria without Soviet participation. [Footnote in Bulletin.]

* See note of Jan. 24, 1952, from the Secretary-General of the Austrian Treaty Deputies to the Soviet Embassy at London; supra.

3 Declaration on Austria, Nov. 1, 1943; A Decade of American Foreign Policy,

p. 11.

* Recueil de textes à l'usage des conférences de la paix (Paris, 1946), p. 123.

79. NOTE FROM THE AMERICAN EMBASSY AT MOSCOW TO THE SOVIET FOREIGN MINISTRY, MARCH 13, 1952 1

On February 28 the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and France publicly expressed their serious concern that the discussions of the Austrian Treaty by the Deputies planned for January 21, for the purpose of concluding the Treaty, were frustrated owing to the failure of the Soviet Deputy to attend. They recalled that Austria, the first country to be occupied by Hitler, was promised full independence in the Moscow Declaration of 1943: but that nearly 9 years afterwards this promise has not yet been fulfilled.

Responsibility for this state of affairs lies squarely on the Soviet Government. The Four Foreign Ministers reached agreement in Paris on June 20, 1949 on the basic issues involved in the Austrian settlement and instructed their Deputies to complete negotiations on the draft Treaty no later than September 1, 1949. Since that time, the Soviet Government has studiously evaded its obligation towards Austria undertaken in the Moscow Declaration. The Soviet Government has refused to engage in constructive negotiations on the remaining unagreed issues in the draft Treaty, has introduced extraneous issues, and did not send its representative to attend the last scheduled meeting of the Deputies.

The Government of the United States considers that failure to reach an Austrian settlement has placed a heavy and unnecessary burden on the Austrian people and has contributed materially to the maintenance of the dangerous tensions which unhappily exist in international relations. It is the most earnest desire of the Government of the United States to do everything within its power to remove these tensions. The conclusion of an Austrian Treaty would constitute an important step toward the consolidation of peace.

This Government, in concert with the Governments of the United Kingdom and France, has now examined the Austrian problem anew. The three Governments are in agreement that the paramount obligation of the powers occupying Austria is to restore Austria's freedom and full independence in accordance with the Moscow Declaration. The three Governments are also agreed that this fundamental obligation to the Austrian people is vastly more important than the minor and extraneous considerations which have since June 1949 prevented agreement on the Treaty. Accordingly, the Government of the United States desires to propose to the Soviet Government a simple instrument which will give Austria full independence. This new pro

1 Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 24, 1952, pp. 448-449; identical notes were sent by the British and French Embassies. For the text of the draft treaty transmitted with this note, see infra.

2 Supra.

3 Declaration on Austria, Nov. 1, 1943; A Decade of American Foreign Policy, p. 11.

See the communiqué of the Sixth Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers; ibid., pp. 110-112.