Documents / FOIA release
This is a compilation of Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) briefing notes to the Director of INR, mostly dated June 12, 1968, with some from June 6, 1968. The notes cover world events, including student riots in Paris, East German passport and visa rules for West Germans, a UN resolution on South West Africa, a change of Komsomol leadership, Sino-Nepalese relations, and the Colombian presidential resignation crisis. Unrest in Senegal and Somalia is also covered. None of the notes discuss UFOs.
“Cairo”3 pages
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SOURCE(S) CLASS./CONTROL(S) TDCS 314/09292-68, 7 June. Secret/NoForDissem: Yesterday 24 Soviet tanks and 16 Soviet trucks were seen approaching the Norwegian border (the latter carrying artillery) and firing was heard. Today 10 P-76 amphibious tanks were seen in the Boris Gleb area with cannon pointed toward Norwegian border positions. Norwegian troops in area have been put on full alert. T5054, Oslo, 7 June. Secret/NoForDissem: Embassy Oslo Comment These Soviet moves can be explained by Soviet irritation over the NATO "Polar Express" exercise which started June 3 and will last until June 23 and which are taking place in North Norway (British, Candian, Italian, and US troops are involved). Pravda on June 1 and Red Star on June 4 sharply criticized the exercise, and on June 5 Norwegian MinDef Tidemand strongly defended it. Such Soviet action is unusual, however, and Embassy Oslo believes it may also be intended to influence Norwegian opinion about NATO and Norwegian defense spending; the Norwegian Parliament is currently preparing for a vote on June 13 on continued Norwegian membership in NATO and on a long-range defense plan assuming such continued membership. All indications are that these measures will pass without difficulty. INR Comment: REU and RSB have no further information to add; this is the first indication of the Soviet move. We concur in the Embassy's reasoning. It seems unlikely that the Soviet leaders think they can gain much by this action; the outcome will probably be to stiffen Norwegian attitudes toward the USSR rather than soften them. Embassy Moscow noted earlier in commenting on the Pravda attack on Polar Express that the article made no mention of the Norwegian Government, avoided attacking its policies, and portrayed Norway as essentially a victim of the pressure of "NATO bosses."
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 132 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.