May 16, 1955
GREECE AND THE BALKANS: Informed diplomatic observers commenting on the proceedings of a conference of eight East European nations in Warsaw, in which the representatives of Albania, Bulgaria and Romania referred to their countries’ desire to restore diplomatic relations with Greece, have emphasized the following: Greece has always been willing to restore relations with these countries, and in fact, as soon as Bulgaria expressed such a desire, Greece set out the conditions under which it would be possible to re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, and talks were actually held in Paris and Athens. The Bulgarian government, however, later refused to carry out what had been agreed upon in Paris between the ambassadors of Greece and Bulgaria, that is to pay the war reparations according to the peace treaty. (…) As for Romania, Greece has responded positively to approaches from that country’s government, and at the same time emphasized the need to resolve economic issues, specifically the reparations for Greek property seized in Romania. However, since that time, Romania has made no further move. The only proposal from Albania has been for the erection of signs along the Greek-Albanian border.
