874.00/5–2445: Telegram
The United States Representative in Bulgaria (Barnes) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 24—4:35 p.m.]
269. See my No. 268 today, 11 a.m. I have discussed the Dimitrov case with the Senior Regent Ganev, the Prime Minister and the Exarch.55 The MinFonAff is out of town as it is a local holiday.
Both the Regent and Exarch urged upon me the need to save Dimitrov. They said that any honest patriotic Bulgarian whose ideals have not been warped by Communist doctrine would urge the same upon me.
I told the Prime Minister the whole story of the escape as I know it from the time Dimitrov left his own house until he arrived at mine. I said I had not gone to the Russians as the matter appeared to be one between myself and the Bulgarian Govt. I pointed out that the Allied Control Commission was here to supervise the execution of the Armistice terms, that we were now in the second period of the Armistice, and that, as I understood that document, the ACC was no longer in principle under the general direction of the Soviet High [Page 222] Command. I added that if the escape of Dimitrov was a matter about which the Russian authorities would concern themselves, it seemed to me that it was for the Bulgarian authorities to discuss the subject with the Russians, rather than for me or Gen. Crane to do so.
The PriMin agreed with this reasoning. He was taken by complete surprise with the news as no inkling of the escape had reached him from the militia or the Minister of Interior. I know that the hunt for Dimitrov has been in full cry since sometime this morning. I therefore asked the PriMin to get in touch with the Minister of Interior immediately to call off the search. He said that he would do this at once and would also consult with other members of the Cabinet as to what position the Govt should take. He agreed emphatically with me that no incident involving your [our] mission should be allowed to arise and that every effort should be made to find a solution with respect to Dimitrov’s future that would eliminate him as an embarrassment to the Russians, the Communists and the Bulgarian Govt and that would at the same time preclude arousing democratic opinion elsewhere against Bulgaria and the FF. He said that of course the Govt would not consider taking any definite steps in the case until I had received instructions from Washington.
There can be no doubt but that our action in the Dimitrov casie will be largely controlling in what the average, patriotic Bulgarian may think of us in the future. While there is as yet no public knowledge of the matter, the case is bound to be discussed on street corners and in every household in Bulgaria. In view of this situation and the tenor of the Prime Minister’s remarks, I urge most sincerely that, without taking any position on the question in principle of asylum, the Dept authorize me to negotiate as best I can through the Bulgarian Govt for the departure of Dimitrov from Bulgaria under the guarantee that he will go to the US or to some far distant country and refrain from political activity until Bulgaria again has an established and recognized Govt. So far as I can ascertain from conversations with high Govt authorities and local lawyers, no legal basis exists for the de facto domiciliary arrest under which Dimitrov has been confined to his house and from which he escaped yesterday afternoon. Both the Regent and the Exarch have assured me that Dimitrov is guilty of no crime against Bulgaria, its people, the Allies or any moral code.
Whatever may be the Dept’s instructions they should not be delayed beyond tomorrow at the latest.
Repeated to Moscow as No. 129, AmPolAd as No. 144.
- Stefan, Metropolitan of Sofia, Exarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.↩