§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what restrictions are normally imposed on the movement of Russian Service attaches based in London; whether any additional restrictions have recently been imposed; whether they were refused permission to visit Portsmouth during the recent call by the Polish destroyer "Warszawa"; and whether he has received any representations from the Polish ambassador in this connection.
§ Mr. EnnalsSoviet Service attachés are normally required to give to the Ministry of Defence two working days' notice of their intention to travel beyond a 35—mile radius of the centre of London. Within this radius there are no restrictions on travel. They are also allowed to travel without prior notification to their country house at Seacox Heath and to Hastings and a number of nearby resorts. There are no areas in the United Kingdom permanently closed to travel by Soviet Service attaches other than those to which access is normally restricted to authorised personnel. These restrictions68W were introduced as a measure of reciprocity for restrictions imposed on travel by United Kingdom Service attaches in the Soviet Union.
No additional restrictions have recently been introduced.
Permission was refused by the Ministry of Defence.
No formal representations were received from the Polish ambassador in this connexion.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what restrictions are normally imposed by the Russian authorities on United Kingdom Service attachés in Moscow; and whether any additional restrictions have recently been imposed on any of the attachés.
§ Mr. EnnalsUnited Kingdom Service attaches are allowed to travel within a radius of 40 kilometres of the Kremlin and to certain "open" towns of the Moscow province without prior notification to the Soviet Defence Ministry. But within these areas there are large sections permanently closed to foreigners. For travel to all other areas in the Soviet Union, 48 hours notification is generally required, except in the case of certain areas open to foreign motor tourists, where 24 hours' notice is required. Large areas of the Soviet Union are, however, permanently out of bounds to foreigners.
We are not aware of any additional restrictions.