Telegram from the Romanian Embassy in Vienna to Deputy Minister Vasile Gliga

Telegram 083.502

From Romanian Embassy in Vienna MFA

To comrade Vasile Gliga, Deputy Minister

Date: November 30, 1978

Classification: Secret

Regarding: the IAEA (your telegram 7/09240).

On November 28, a meeting took place at the USSR’s permanent mission to the IAEA between representatives from some socialist countries and the international civil servants working for the IAEA Secretariat, dealing with safeguards.

According to your instructions, our country was represented only by comrade Marin Buhoara.

The meeting involved a movie night (the main part being a Romanian novelette presented by a Moldovan artist), discussions about the Agency’s safeguards system, and cocktails.

During the talks about safeguards, led by the head of section -V. Poroikov-, inspector for Romania and other socialist states, and director F. Klik (Czechoslovakia), they mainly put forward the following ideas:

- the purpose of the meeting - the first one of this kind - is to discuss the course of action for strengthening the nonproliferation regime and efficacy of the safeguards system, coordinating all efforts, including fostering closer ties between the families of the diplomats who work for their [countries’] mission and the safeguards specialists in the IAEA Secretariat.

- Socialist countries respect the obligations stipulated in the Nonproliferation Treaty and the safeguards agreements, but there are some difficulties with controlling the developed capitalist countries, which involves intensifying the actions of the Secretariat and the IAEA’s [other] bodies with a view to implementing safeguards.

- Socialist countries are doing well in the safeguards sector (they have 25% of the inspector slots), and together are able to give [a certain] direction to the IAEA’s activities in this field.

- The number of inspectors from socialist countries will increase next year, when the staff of the Safeguards Department will grow by 40%, which makes it easier to give the desired direction to the daily activities of the Safeguards Department.

It would be good if work and pleasure meetings for those working for the Safeguards Department were organized periodically.

The organizer - Ambassador Erofeev - informed us from the outset that this first meeting was short, and the actual talks will begin at the next meeting.

We believe that it is not necessary or advisable to systematically have the mission and Romanian officers at these meetings, especially that the issue of the Agency, including the issue of safeguards, is the subject of discussion at the General Conference, Board of Governors Meeting and their committees, as well as during current bilateral talks between the missions and Secretariat’s employees.

Octavian Groza