HC Deb 19 November 1958 vol 595 cc142-3W
42. Mr. Donnelly

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement regarding Her Majesty's Government's policy towards Berlin.

48. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent he has consulted with the other Powers involved on the matter of the Russian Government's proposals for the future control of Berlin.

49. Mr. E. Fletcher

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what recent request he has received from the Soviet Government of Russia for a revision of the existing treaty agreements with regard to the status of Berlin.

54. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what official communication he has received from the Russian Government in respect of Mr. Khrushchev's pronouncement on the possibility of his Government transferring their responsibility in the four-Power control of Berlin to the East German Government; and what reply he will make.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd:

I have seen the statements about Berlin made by Mr. Khrushchev in his speech in Moscow on the 10th of November. But no official communication on this subject has yet been received from the Soviet Government. We are consulting with the United States and French Governments and with the Federal German Government about the implications of Mr. Khrushchev's statements.

I should make it clear that the Allied position in Berlin does not derive from the Potsdam Agreement as implied by Mr. Khrushchev but from the unconditional surrender and the assumption of supreme authority in Germany by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at the end of the war. Agreements were concluded with the Soviet Union in 1944 providing that after the surrender Berlin should be placed under quadripartite occupation and should be administered separately from the Soviet zone of Germany. None of the four Powers has the right unilaterally to alter this arrangement.

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