265. TERMINATION OF SOVIET-UNITED STATES NEGOTIATIONS ON A CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT AGREEMENT: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (White), Department of State, August 21, 1961 14

In view of the international situation for which the United States is not responsible, this Government has decided that this is not an appropriate time to sign the Civil Air Transport Agreement which has been negotiated with the Soviet Union.15 Negotiations began in Washington on July 18 and were concluded recently.16 The negotiations for reciprocal air services between New York and Moscow were undertaken in accordance with provisions of the 1958 17 and 1959 agreements 18 with the Soviet Union on scientific, technical, educational and cultural exchanges.

In order, however, to record the conclusions reached between the two delegations, the agreed text was initialed today 19 by Mr. U. Alexis Johnson, Deputy Under Secretary of State, and Colonel General Y. E. Loginov, Chief of the Main Administration for the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR.

"WE ARE GOING TO PASS THROUGH DIFFICULT WEEKS AND MONTHS... IN MAINTAINING THE FREEDOM OF WEST BERLIN, BUT MAINTAIN IT WE WILL": Remarks Made by the President (Kennedy) at the White House, August 21, 1961 20

"THE PEOPLE OF WEST BERLIN... LOOK TO US FOR ENCOURAGEMENT, FOR HOPE, AND FOR LEADERSHIP": Remarks Made by the Vice President (Johnson) at the White House, August 21, 1961 21

16

I.e., on Aug. 4, 1961.

17 Reference to sec. XIV of the agreement of Jan. 27, 1958; text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, pp. 823–831.

18

Reference to sec. XV of the agreement of Nov. 21, 1959; text ibid., 1959, pp.

957-971.

19 In reply to a question regarding the significance of initialing the agreement, Mr. White stated the following: "Signing would indicate that the two parties intended to proceed with implementation of the agreement. Initialing simply records the fact that the negotiations resulted in an agreed text which could be signed and implemented at a later date."

20

Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 4, 1961, p. 395.

21 Ibid.

Doc. 265

266. EAST GERMAN RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVEL BETWEEN WEST BERLIN AND EAST GERMANY: Summary of Orders Issued by the Ministry of Interior of the German "Democratic Republic," August 22, 1961 22

(1) Permits for West Berliners

West Berlin citizens now require a permit (Aufenthaltsgenehmigung) to visit East Berlin. The permit will specify the crossing-point to be used. Applications for permits stating reasons for the visit must be submitted to the East Berlin Police Presidium. West Berliners will apply at West Berlin branch offices of the East German State Travel Bureau. East Berlin citizens may apply on behalf of their prospective visitors through their local police office. A fee of one West mark will be charged for a permit.

(2) Special Crossing-points

Until a peace treaty is signed, separate crossing-points are established for (a) foreigners, including members of the diplomatic corps and the Western occupation forces, (b) West Germans, and (c) West Berliners.

Category (a) may use only one crossing-point (Friedrichstrasse) "in the interests of speedier clearance". Category (b) may use two crossing-points (Bornholmerstrasse and Heinrich Heine Strasse), and category (c) four crossing-points (Chausseestrasse, Invalidenstrasse, Oberbaumbrücke, and Sonnenallee). West Berliners must be in possession of an identity card and visitor's permit. West Berlin children may only cross the border in the company of their parents and must be entered on the latter's identity card.

(3) Banned Area along Sector Border

All persons are once more warned, in the interests of their own safety, to keep 100 metres away from both sides of the sector border.

267. WESTERN POWERS PROTEST OF THE EAST GERMAN RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVEL BETWEEN WEST BERLIN AND EAST GERMANY: Statement Issued by the French, United Kingdom, and United States Commandants in Berlin, August 23, 1961 23

The latest illegal measures announced by the so-called East German government on August 23 24 have resulted in a further sealing off of East Berlin and East Germany from the free world. They are thus another step in the unfolding of the brutal and callous policy of the East German regime.

Only ten days after the introduction of the illegal measures of August 13,25 the East German regime has added a further grave restriction on freedom of movement in Berlin. The new measures aim to subject West Berliners to the same oppressive and inhuman travel controls within Berlin which the Soviet-zone regime has already imposed on its own people.

22 Selected Documents on Germany and the Question of Berlin, 1944-1961 (Cmnd. 1552), p. 472.

23 Ibid., pp. 472-473.

These new measures are further proof that the East German Communist regime cannot tolerate the maintenance of even the simplest human contacts between friends and families. These illegal measures are contrary to existing four-power agreements, and by flagrantly disregarding elementary human rights, show the contempt of the East German regime for world opinion.

The three Western commandants take a most serious view of the effrontery of the East German authorities in warning the citizens of West Berlin to keep at a distance of 100 meters from the sector border, a border which the Communists themselves have violated on numerous occasions in the last few days. The commandants are taking the necessary action to insure the security and integrity of the sector borders.

SOVIET PROTEST OF THE USE OF THE AIR CORRIDORS TO BERLIN FOR TRANSPORTING "REVANCHISTS FROM THE F.R.G. TO WEST BERLIN": Note From the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the American Embassy in Moscow, August 23, 1961 26

"THE SCARCELY VEILED [SOVIET] THREAT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST THE ALLIED AIR ROUTES TO AND FROM WEST BERLIN. MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY": Statement Issued by the White House, August 24, 1961 27

268. "THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MUST PROTEST... THE SUGGESTION THAT THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE WESTERN ALLIES USE THE AIR CORRIDORS [TO BERLIN] ARE WITHIN THE COMPETENCE OF THE SOVIET UNION": Note From the American Embassy in Moscow to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, August 26, 1961 28

The Embassy of the United States of America presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and has the honor to refer to the Ministry's note number 84/OSA of August 23, 1961,29 in connection with which the Embassy,

24

Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 11, 1961, p. 433; also Documents on Germany, 1944-1961 (Committee print, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 87th Cong., 1st sess.), pp. 753–755. Identical notes were delivered to the Embassies of France and the United Kingdom in Moscow.

27

Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 11, 1961, p. 431; also Documents on Germany, 1944–1961, p. 755.

28

Department of State press release No. 596 (text as printed in the Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 11, 1961, pp. 431-433). Identical notes were delivered by the Embassies of France and the United Kingdom.

upon the instructions of its Government, is authorized to state the following:

The Government of the Soviet Union objects in its note to the use by the Western Allies of their air corridors to Berlin. The United States Government must protest strongly against the suggestion that the purposes for which the Western Allies use the air corridors are within the competence of the Soviet Union. These corridors were established in 1945 by decision of the Four-Power Allied Control Council as the manner in which the unrestricted right of air access to Berlin would be exercised by the Western Powers. There has never been any limitation whatsoever placed upon their use by the aircraft of the Western Powers. The United States Government will hold the Government of the Soviet Union responsible for any interference with the safety of these aircraft in the corridors.

The Government of the U.S.S.R. in its note accuses the Western Powers of violating the Four-Power agreements of 1945. In particular, it reproaches them for their "connivance at the interference of the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany in the affairs of West Berlin and at the use of the territory of the city for international provocations . . .," and insists "that the Government of the U.S.A., which at present exercises occupation functions in West Berlin, take steps to stop the illegal and provocative actions of the Federal Republic of Germany in that city.”

This demand is at the very least surprising. Indeed, since the night of August 12 to 13 the authorities of East Germany, with the concurrence of the Soviet Union, as the note of the Soviet Government dated August 18 attests,30 have not ceased taking unilateral measures which do precisely violate the Four-Power agreements and the freedom of movement within the city of Berlin. First they erected barricades, strengthened from day to day, to stop the traffic from East to West, in order, in fact, to put an end to the increasing exodus of refugees. For some days the same authorities have been attempting to establish unilateral and arbitrary control over access to East Berlin by the inhabitants of West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. And they have just limited to a single point the possibilities of movement of the Allies from West to East.31 Moreover, the inhabitants of East Berlin who worked in West Berlin have been denied the pursuit of their occupations. If there are "illegal and provocative actions", they are certainly those of the authorities of East Germany in taking such measures. As the United States note delivered to the Soviet Government on July 17 stated, if there is a crisis in Berlin, it is certainly the doing of the Soviet Union.32 Did not the number of refugees increase considerably from the day on which the Soviet Government made apparent the imminence of the implementation of its plan for a separate "peace treaty" and a "free city"?

The Soviet Government protests against the presence in West Berlin

30 Ante, doc. 257.

See ante, doc. 266. 32 See ante, doc. 239.

of personalities from the Federal Republic, such as, for example: "Mr. [Eugen] Gerstenmaier, the President of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany; Mr. [Heinrich] Krone, the Chairman of the CDU/CSU [Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union] Bundestag fraction; Mr. [Eric] Ollenhauer, the President of the SPD [Social Democratic Party], Mr. [Eric] Mende, President of the FDP [Free Democratic Party], and others." The United States Government does not understand the position of the Soviet Government. West Berlin has a wide variety of ties with the Federal Republic that are in no way incompatible with the Four-Power status of Berlin. These accusations are all the more inadmissible since, for a long time and even quite recently, the Soviet Union as well as the East German authorities have been trying to integrate East Berlin completely into East Germany by isolating it from the outside and attempting to make it the capital of East Germany.

The fundamental fact is that the whole of Berlin has a quadripartite status. The United States Government notes that the Soviet Government explicitly recognizes the rights and responsibilities of the Western Powers in Berlin. Unlike the Soviet Government, the Western Powers have always taken great care to see that the special status of the city as a whole is protected and preserved in accordance with Four-Power agreements. The Western Powers have established thorough procedures and safeguards for this purpose and the Soviet Government is well aware of this. The United States is willing as always to consider any legitimate complaints which the Soviet Union may put forward, but the allegations in the Soviet note are false.

Accordingly, it is up to the Soviet Union and not the United States to take measures to allay the state of tension and unrest which has developed in Berlin. The whole world will be concerned at the scarcely veiled threat of aggression against the Allied air routes to and from West Berlin. The United States must serve a solemn warning to the Soviet Union that interference by the Soviet Government or its East German regime with free access to Berlin would have the most serious consequences for which it would bear full responsibility.

WESTERN POWERS INSISTENCE ON "CONTINUED UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO EAST BERLIN WITHOUT HINDRANCE AS TO PLACE OR TIME": Letter From the American Ambassador at Bonn (Dowling) to the Soviet Ambassador at East Berlin (Pervukhin), August 26, 1961 33

Department of State press release No. 599, Aug. 28, 1961; the Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 18, 1961, p. 478. Identical letters were delivered by the Ambassadors of France and the United Kingdom.