§ 48. Mr. Zilliacusasked the Prime Minister what communications have passed between him and President Eisenhower in connection with the latter's insistence on the inclusion of free elections for the European Peoples Democracies on the agenda of the Summit Conference, and his claim that he has the right to raise this subject under the February 1945 Yalta Agreement.
§ The Prime MinisterIt is not the practice to reveal the contents of confidential communications between Heads of Government.
§ Mr. ZilliacusWill the Prime Minister explain why it is that, when he cannot tell the House what matters the Government wish to include on the agenda, 968 President Eisenhower should be free publicly to insist on including a matter which is known to be unacceptable and to make it a sine qua non for holding a conference? Will he draw the attention of the President to the fact that the Yalta Agreements have long ago lapsed and been superseded by the obligations of the Charter which, under Article 103, take priority over all contradictory or conflicting obligations and which Article forbids interference in the internal affairs of members of the United Nations?
§ The Prime MinisterAll those are very interesting points, but I see no reason to depart from the practice, which alone makes such communications valuable, of not disclosing confidential discussions that I may have with the President.