SOVIET UNION EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A000900320001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 18, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 14, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Soviet Union
Eastern Europe
DIA review(s) completed.
Niz
Top Secret
1
Ma 14, 1975
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SOVIET UNION - EASTERN EUROPE
May 14, 1975
V-E Day in East Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
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 Approved For
V-E Day in East Europe
V-E Day celebrations in several East European
capitals last week took on a hy.ghly nationalistic
tone, and there were hints of friction between some
Warsaw Pact allies over their respective roles in
defeating fascism.
In Romania, President Ceausescu's speech on
May 9 portrayed World War II not as a European struggle
dominated by the Soviets, but as a conflagration in
which a "world coalition" defeated the Axis. The US,
British, French, Yugoslav, and Chinese roles in the war
were praised. Ceausescu gave due credit to the Soviet
war effort, but singled out the UK for special com-
mendation. He noted that London stood alone for nearly
a year against the fascists, thus taking an indirect
slap at the Soviet-Nazi Pact. The Romanian leader
also tweaked Soviet noses by lumping together the
Munich and Molotov-Ribbentrop pacts as "encouraging
the invasion and domination of other peoples."
Bucharest's annoyance with Soviet reluctance to
acknowledge Romania's part in the war effort was also
clearly apparent. Ceausescu quoted extensively both
from Western sources and from Stalin, Molotov, and
Vishinsky in praising Romania's heroic fight.
The Romanians were also highly vexed at the Soviet
and Czechoslovak invitations to V-E Day receptions. Both
slighted the wartime role of others--East and West.
Romanian Chief of Staff General Coman made a special
point of expressing his satisfaction to the US defense
attache that the NATO ambassadors had boycotted the two
receptions.
In Warsaw, Poland's role in the wartime alliance--
not Poland as a country liberated by others--was the of-
ficial theme. Part boss Gierek's nationally televised
May 14, 1975
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address was heavily laced with references to the
Polish effort in defeating Nazi Germany. Gierek
reminded his listeners that Poland was the only
pact country apart from the USSR that played a
significant part in the Allied cause throughout
the entire war.
Gierek paid tribute to the "deciding role" of
Moscow, but--like Ceausescu--he noted the importance
of the West, and especially of the US, the UK and
France.
The Hungarians, on the other hand, toed the
Soviet line. Politburo member Antal Apro's V-E Day
speech lashed out at those in the West for falsify-
ing history and belittling the Soviet war effort.
Apro virtually ignored the role of Western allies,
attacked "imperialists" for being responsible for
the rise of fascism, and suggested that the policy
of appeasement had enabled Hitler to plan his attack
on the USSR.
Apro was obviously using the presence of high-
ranking Soviets to reiterate Budapest's loyalty to
the Kremlin line. He was, however, unusually harsh,
apparently going further than Brezhnev in attacking
the West.
May 14 , 1975
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Top Secret
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