Editorial Note
In a note of December 12 to the Legation in Bucharest, the Romanian Foreign Ministry alleged that United States authorities had trained and equipped for espionage activities two Romanian citizens who were parachuted into Romania in October 1951 from an American aircraft. The Romanian Government demanded the punishment of those responsible for carrying out the alleged spy mission and the taking of measures to prevent the recurrence of such actions. On instructions of the Department of State, Chargé Gantenbein on December 20 categorically rejected the “ridiculous” charges of the Romanian Government and concluded:
“The Government of the United States cannot avoid the conclusion that this fantastic incident has been conjured up by the Rumanian Government in order to furnish some basis for an over-all propaganda campaign. The purposes of this propaganda campaign and of the invention of such incidents are best known to those controlling the Rumanian Government. The Government of the United States is unwilling to dignify them with further comment.”
For text of the Romanian note of December 12 and an excerpt from the American reply of December 20, see Department of State Bulletin, December 31, 1951, pages 1056–1057.