April 29, 1959
BERLIN PROBLEM: Washington, 29 – During his first press conference in over a month, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that with regard to the imminent foreign ministers’ summit meeting in Geneva, the USA’s position on the Berlin problem remained unchanged. The USA was steadfast in its determination, he said, not to abandon the 2 million free Berliners to the rule of a foreign power that they abhorred. America would abide fully by the responsibility it had undertaken regarding the former German capital city. Nevertheless, added Eisenhower, there were still many channels open to reduce the current tension between East and West. Those channels, which provided hope for a gradual improvement in international relations, should be carefully studied with the necessary sober deliberation. MARKEZINIS IN THE USSR: Moscow, 29 – The leader of Greece’s Progressive Party, Spyros Markezinis, visited Russia’s first atomic power station before returning to Athens today. Upon his departure, Markezinis said: «I thought that Greece was the homeland of the god of hospitality. But now I have the impression that it is a Soviet god. Just a few days in Moscow was enough to understand how good and hospitable the people of the USSR are.»
