2. Romania

--  25. Memorandum From the President's Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon, Washington, January 16, 1973. [ PDF version   ] 

Kissinger requested approval for the Boeing Company to sell three 707-320C commercial jets to Romania. Nixon approved the request.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 703, Country Files�Europe�Rumania. Secret. Sent for action. Kissinger notified Secretary of Commerce Peterson in a memorandum on January 25. (Ibid.)

Counselor Vasile Pungan read a statement from President Ceausescu expressing interest in closer bilateral economic and political relations between the United States and Romania.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1027, Presidential/HAK Memoranda of Conversations. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting took place in the Map Room of the White House.

Kissinger suggested that Nixon respond to President Ceausescu's note verbale with assurances of the "high priority" for future U.S. cooperation with Romania and an invitation for Ceausescu to visit the United States later in that year. Nixon approved the recommendations.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 761, Country Files�Europe�Rumania. Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. Sent for action.  Attached but not published at Tab B is the full text of Ceausescu's note.  Counselor Pungan's reading of this note to Kissinger is published as Document 26.  Kissinger postponed Polish First Secretary Gierek's planned state visit in favor of Ceausescu's visit in a handwritten note on an August 7 Action Memorandum from Clift to Kissinger, which read "No for Poland. Ceausescu must come first." (Ibid., Box 699, Country Files�Europe�Poland) Attached but not published at Tab A is the signed May 16 letter from Nixon to Ceausescu.

Secretary of State Kissinger and President Ceausescu met to discuss U.S.-Romanian bilateral relations.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1027, Presidential/HAK Memoranda of Conversations. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Martens.

The Department summarized President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger's meetings with President Ceausescu during his state visit on December 4 and 5.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 703, Country Files�Europe�Rumania. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Barnes; and approved by Kissinger, Armitage, and Sonnenfeldt.  Sent for information to Moscow and the U.S. Mission to NATO.

This memorandum recounted President Ford's meeting with Romanian Presidential Counselor Pungan in which they discussed Ceausescu's invitation to visit Romania and the state of Romanian-U.S. bilateral relations.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 5, August 27, 1974, Ford and Pungan. Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the Oval Office of the White House.

Secretary Kissinger met with President Ceausescu to discuss Romanian-U.S. bilateral relations, trade, Romanian restrictions on Jewish emigration, and CSCE.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs: Convenience Files, Box 52, General Subject File, HAK European Trip, 1974 (6) WH. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Barnes.  Attached but not published are Barnes's notes for subsequent conversations on November 4.  The meeting took place in the Council of State.

Kissinger proposed that Ambassador Barnes be allowed to open trade negotiations with Romania.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs: Convenience Files, Box 20, Country File, Romania, 1975 (1) WH. Confidential. Ford approved the recommendation, as indicated by a January 7 memorandum from Scowcroft to Springsteen.  (Ibid.)  The Trade Act of 1974, signed by Ford on January 3, 1975, cleared all obstacles to granting Most-Favored Nation Trading Status to Romania.

President Ford issued an Executive Order issuing Most-Favored Nation Trade Status to Romania.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs: Convenience Files, Box 20, Country File, Romania, 1975 (4) WH.  No classification marking.  Ford signed the memorandum.  Section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 prohibited granting MFN, extending credit, or entering into a commercial agreement with any non-market country denying its citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate or by excessively taxing emigration.  The President, through Executive Order, waived these conditions for one year on assurance of improvements in Romania's future emigration practices.

Presidents Ford and Ceausescu met to discuss bilateral relations and CSCE.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 12, Ceausescu.  Secret; Nodis. The meeting took place in the Oval Office of the White House. Ceausescu's meetings with members of Congress are summarized in a memorandum from Secretary Kissinger to President Ford, enclosed as Tab A under cover of a June 13 memorandum from Janka to Scowcroft. (Ibid., NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs: Convenience Files, Box 20, Country File, Romania, 1975 (6) WH)

The Embassy reported on Romanian Ministry of Defense requests to acquire U.S. military items.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Trip Briefing Books and Cables for President Ford, Presidential Trips Files, Box 12, July 26-August 4, 1975�Europe Cables�Bucharest Exdis and Nodis. Confidential; Limdis; Exdis to Department of State. Repeated to the Department of State, Helsinki, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and NASA. Helsinki was instructed to pass the telegram to the Presidential party. Attached but not published is a separate list of space-related items requested by the Romanians, Bucharest 3630, July 30.  Ambassador Barnes commented in Bucharest 3724, July 30, that the Romanians were moving "faster than expected" on seeking military sales from the United States and recommended waiting until President Ford's visit for a fuller explanation of the Romanian Government's motives. (Ibid.)

President Ford met with President Ceausescu to discuss Romanian-U.S. bilateral relations and the Helsinki Accords.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff, Box 20, Country File, Romania 1975 (7) WH. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Barnes. The meeting took place at the Council of State. Undated briefing papers prepared by the Department of State for the trip are ibid., Box 10, July 26-August 4, 1975�Europe Briefing Book�Bucharest.

Presidents Ford and Ceausescu discussed the CSCE Conference, disarmament, and Eastern Europe-Soviet relations.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs, Box 20, Country File, Romania 1975 (7) WH. Confidential; Nodis. Drafted by Barnes. The meeting took place on a train en route to Sinaia from Bucharest. This is a continuation of the conversation begun in Document 36.  

Presidents Ford and Ceausescu discussed world economic conditions.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Staff for Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs, Box 20, Country File, Romania 1975 (7) WH. Confidential; Nodis. Drafted by Barnes. The meeting took place on a train en route to Sinaia from Bucharest. This is a continuation of the conversation begun in Documents 36 and 37.

Ambassador Barnes commented on the prospect of an arms sales agreement with Romania and recommended a "tangible demonstration of interest in the non-lethal, communications and related elements" of the Romanian request but counseled against lethal arms sales.

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files. Confidential; Exdis.

Secretary of State Kissinger met with representatives of the Departments of State and Defense to discuss military sales policy to Romania.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff, Country Files, Box 20, Romania (10) WH. Secret; Nodis. Drafted by Andrews and approved on November 5 in S by Covey. The meeting took place in the Secretary's office. Barnes met with Macovescu on January 29, 1976, as transmitted in telegram 535 from Bucharest, January 30, to discuss the arms sales policy and noted "a variety of obstacles related to legislative restrictions as well as overall questions of policy with which we were still grappling" and recommended that the Government of Romania submit an appraisal of the "political impact such a decision would have on Romanian relationships with its Soviet neighbor." (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files)

Secretary of State Kissinger met with Andrei and newly-appointed Ambassador Nicolae on a broad range of issues, including MFN, Jewish emigration, and Romanian-U.S. bilateral affairs.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff, Country Files, Box 21, Romania 1976 (3) WH. Secret; Nodis. Drafted by Barnes; cleared by Armitage; and approved on July 7 by Collums (S). The meeting took place in the Secretary's office.

President Ford met with Secretary for International Affairs Stefan Andrei to discuss the continuation of MFN status for Romania.

Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff, Country Files, Box 21, Romania 1976 (4) WH. Confidential; Nodis. The meeting took place at the White House. The memorandum was included under cover of an unpublished July 13 memorandum from Davis to Borg.

The National Security Council prepared a study of the potential impact of Soviet military action against Romania or internal Romanian political instability on the U.S. and the NATO alliance.

Source: National Security Council, Ford Subject Files, Romania. No classification marking.  Attached but not published is the study with all annexes.