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INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND CONFERENCES- —~ The North Atlantic Council held its spring “Ministerial Meeting at Istanbul May 2-4. Fol- lowing are texts of a message from President Eisenhower which was read by Secretary Herter at the opening session on May 2, a final communi- que issued on May 4, and statements made by Secretary Herter upon his arrival at Istanbul on April 30, at the conclusion of the meeting on May 4, and upon his return to Washington on May 6, together with a list of the members of the U.S. delegation. MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT EISENHOWER As the NATO Ministerial Council convenes for its twenty-fifth session since NATO's found- ing, I should like to recall its original purpose, to emphasize once more its continuing necessity, and to define anew its challenging tasks. Eleven years ago our nations joined in a solemn pact of interdependence. We recognized that only by cooperating as free peoples, subjecting our individual preference to the common interest, could we ward off threatening danger. For the threat was real and immediate. For my own country, the decision to join such a pact was epochal. We overcame our historic aversion to permanent alliances and, in important facets, agreed to merge our destiny with that of other free and like-minded nations of the Atlantic area, This decision has been ratified by the over- whelming approval of the American people of whatever party or political faith. into the strongest peace-time coalition in all his- tory. It has come to have a meaning for its members far transcending the initial crisis which gave it birth. In two weeks, I shall meet at Paris, together with other Western leaders, with the Premier of “the USSR: © eee May 23, 1960 It has grown — ‘North Atlantic Council Holds Ministerial Meeting at Istanbul We approach these Paris talks with a sincere desire to do all possible to reduce the tensions and dangers that now exist. Yet we cannot reason- ably anticipate any quick or spectacular results. This meeting will be-one more in what may prove a long succession of diplomatic exchanges dealing with some of the most difficult problems of our era. These are not susceptible to early solution. We can, at best, hope to make some modest progress towards our goals. . In this period of prolonged negotiation, I hope that all the NATO governments and their peoples will redouble efforts toward maintaining our strength, unity, and firmness of purpose. We can negotiate successfully only if we are resolute and united, and if that resolution and unity are manifest to the Soviets. Any evidence of weakness or division among ourselves can only undermine our diplomacy and diminish its effectiveness. Tf our negotiations with the Soviets ‘do not pros- per, we will have even more reason to look to our combined NATO forces as our greatest insurance against aggression. If these negotiations do create some hope of re- ducing the risk of hostility, our efforts to enhance NATO's material and moral strength and cohe- sion will be the more needed—in order to meet the challenge of intensifying competition with the Communists throughout the world. It is thus apparent today, even more than when our NATO treaty was signed, that our alliance is responsive to vital and enduring needs—a perma- nent community of free peoples, menacing no one, concerting ite efforts only to advance the common good, evolving to deal ever more effectively with the problems and opportunities of the new decade. To meet these problems and opportunities, Sec- retary Herter proposed at your Ministerial meet- ce nee tend e nnet eet i _ ! i i Pan