January 17, 1963
Diary Entry of Aminitore Fanfani for 17 January 1963 [Excerpt]
This document was made possible with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY)
17 gennaio
Con [Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs Edoardo’ Martino ed i miei collaboratori discutiamo le questioni delle basi. Concordino che si accetti la proposta di ritiro. Lo comunico alle 10 con Kennedy, discutendone le condizioni: quelle di ieri enunciate da R. e concordate da me con Mac Namara, più che i sottomarini Polaris USA non abbiano basi in Italia, più che l’Italia faccia parte del comitato Nato per studiare, controllare e dirigere forza multilaterale nucleare. Accetta e fa trascrivere queste mie condizioni in un foglietto in due copie, una per lui ed una per me. Gli chiedo di cancellare un rigo a proposito di basi nel Medite-rraneo che poteva far supporre in Italia, ed egli personalmente lo cancella nelle due copie.
...
In sintesi tutti dicono: incontri costruttivi ed affiatati. È la verità. La delusione data da De Gaulle, mi ha certo aiutato.
17th January
With [Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs Edoardo] Martino and my collaborators we discuss the question of the [Jupiter] bases. They agree that the [U.S.] withdrawal proposal is acceptable. I communicate it at 10 with Kennedy, discussing the conditions: those of yesterday enunciated by Rusk and agreed by me with McNamara, plus US Polaris submarines will have no bases in Italy, and that Italy will be part of the NATO committee to study, control and direct nuclear multilateral force.
He [Kennedy] accepts and has these conditions of mine transcribed on a two page document, one for him and one for me. I ask him to delete a line regarding bases in the Mediterranean that could lead one to suppose they are in Italy, and he personally deletes it in the two copies.
...
In summary, everyone says: constructive and close-knit meetings. It is the truth. The disappointment given by De Gaulle [rejection of British membership in Common Market] certainly helped me.
In the morning, Fanfani met with his advisers, and they agreed to accept the Jupiter-Polaris arrangement. He then met with Kennedy for a series of conversations on East-West issues and the developing countries. During their private meeting, Fanfani conveyed to Kennedy the conditions for the agreement—Polaris submarines would not be based in Italy, and Italy would be a participant in the MLF and a member of the NATO committee establishing it. As he noted in his diary, Fanfani asked that language referring to “bases in the Mediterranean” (“which could lead one to suppose they are in Italy”) be removed from the “minute of understanding” of the meeting. Kennedy accepted the stipulations, and a memorandum of their understanding was prepared.
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