Cablegram Hague 54 THE HAGUE, 15 April 1947, 7.52 p.m.
IMMEDIATE SECRET
My telegram 53. [1]
I have just discussed the matter thoroughly at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2. The latter emphasized that visas have not been refused but are not yet authorised. There would be no objection to Ballard’s staff being increased by experts provided that these went up singly and unostentatiously.
3. Could the matter be allowed to rest for a few days and then the desired result secured by sending up the officials in question, one by one, to join Ballard, all with a minimum of publicity.
4. I am assured that although Dutch-Indonesian talks are proceeding satisfactorily they are proceeding slowly and that nothing will eventuate immediately. So delay as above should not prejudice our interests.
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1 Sent by Landale shortly after midnight on 14 April, it reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had advised that the Netherlands Government regretted that it could not reverse the decision regarding visas for the moment.
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[AA:A1838/2, 401/1/3/2, i]