DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Memorandum of Conversation
Date: April 1, 1949 Subject: North Atlantic Treaty
Participants: The Secretary The Portuguese Foreign Minister, Dr. Caeiro da Matta The Director General of Political Affairs of the Portuguese Foreign Office, Dr. Antonio de Faria The Portuguese Ambassador, Pedro Theotonio Pereira Mr. John D. Hickerson, Director for European Affairs Mr. William B. Dunham, Division of Southwest European Affairs
Copies to: S H - Mr. Gross U - Mr. Webb S/P - Mr. Kennan C - Mr. Bohlen EUR - Mr. Hickerson G - Mr. Rusk EUR - Mr. Staples WE - Mr. Achilles
The Foreign Minister stated that he had been asked by Dr. Salazar to convey his greetings and best wishes to me. Dr. Salazar, he said, is impressed by the assistance which the United States is giving to Europe and is happy to cooperate in these efforts to restore the economy of Western Europe and to provide for its security through the North Atlantic Treaty. He was very pleased to receive my message to him and will send a reply in the near future.
Dr. Caeiro da Matta mentioned that the duration of the draft Treaty had created a problem for the Portuguese Government. A period of ten years limited the possibility of aggression to Russia but a longer period increased the possibility that aggression in Western Europe might come from another source. Also the problem of Spain and the Treaty of Non-Aggression and Friendship between that country and Portugal had required consultation with the Spanish Government. These consultations had been concluded with the understanding that the North Atlantic Treaty is not incompatible with the existing treaty relationship between Portugal and Spain.
The Foreign Minister expressed his opinion that the Treaty is very important to Western Europe and to the world. He expressed his appreciation of the great role of the United States in the reconstruction of Europe and in participating in this essential security arrangement. He stated that he was therefore very pleased to be here and had come with pleasure to sign the North Atlantic Treaty.
I thanked the Portuguese Foreign Minister for his kind message. I told him that I had known many instances of Portugal's desire to collaborate with the United States in the war years when I was here in the Department and at a time when it was not easy for the Portuguese Government to follow such a course. I told him that we have a warm place in our hearts for Portugal.
In connection with the problem of the duration of the Treaty, I told Dr. Caeiro da Matta that this had also been a problem for us. There is in the minds of Western Europeans the question of German aggression as well as aggression from the Soviet Union. I pointed out that there had been great pressure from the Western European nations to have the Treaty cover a much longer period and that we had decided after consultation with Congressional leaders that we would accept a period of twenty years. In the circumstances, anything less would be useless.
I told Dr. Caeiro da Matta that in our view the Pact seeks to accomplish two important objectives. First, it is our expectation that the banding together of this group to assist one another in the event of aggression will help to forestall aggression. Secondly, by providing for the security of the North Atlantic area we hope to contribute to the reconstruction of Western Europe. A feeling of security is necessary in order that the people of Western Europe may feel that the difficult task of reconstruction is worthwhile. The initiative in these efforts is coming from Western Europe and the United States can only seek to support and cooperate to the best of its ability with these efforts. I pointed out in this connection that the difference between this situation in Western Europe and China is that the Western European governments want to help themselves and that the Chinese Government has given no indication of a similar desire.
I told the Portuguese Foreign Minister that we were delighted that the Portuguese Government had decided to adhere to this Treaty and that we were most happy to welcome him. There was a brief discussion of the economic difficulties which the drought is causing in Portugal before the Foreign Minister left.
SWE:WBDunham:oa