THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 DECEMBER 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007889
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 9, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
December 9, 1974
5
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of EO. 11652
exemption category 513(1),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
December 9, 1974
Table of Contents
EC: The promise to lower the UK's share of the BC_
budget is the key to a successful summit.
(Page 1)
South Vietnam: Communist forces have sharply in-
creased their activity in the Mekong Delta.
(Page 2)
Cyprus: .Makarios and Denktash leave some room in
public statements for maneuvering in future
negotiations. (Page 3)
Notes: USSR-France; USSR; Greece (Page 4)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
EC
The key to success at the two-day
summit of the Nine that opens in Paris
today will be a promise to lower the
UK's future share of the EC budget.
Prime Minister Wilson has now promised
? French President Giscard and West
German Chancellor Schmidt that he will
recommend continued British membership
in the EC to the British public if he
? gets satisfactory replies to ?the
budget question and the other "rene-
gotiation" demands.
The Belgians have ready a proposed budget for-
mula more favorable to Britain. Giscard has not
given Wilson any promises, but the British believe
the French will go along.
A successful summit denoting a united community
would give Giscard a strengthened base for his meet-
ing with you next weekend. He would probably also
like to cite the EC summit as well as his meetings
with you and General Secretary Brezhnev to bolster
his position at home.
The French-Soviet meeting may cause trouble
at the EC summit. Giscard's agreement with Brezhnev
to accelerate the European security conference ap-
parently was made without consulting his community
partners. Until now, the security conference has
been hailed as an outstanding example of political
cooperation among the Nine.
The French do not want to spend much time at
the summit on the international aspects of energy
policy. Giscard apparently hopes in the course of
his meeting with you to trade France's eventual
participation in the US-backed International Energy
Agency for US acquiescence to an early meeting of
oil exporters and importers.
France's EC partners would like to see a com-
promise worked out between the US and France on the
international aspects of energy policy, since this
would remove a major obstacle to agreement within
the EC. The Nine hope to reach internal agreement
on energy at the EC Council meeting scheduled for
December 17.
1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY ?
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108
Demilitarized Zone
Hue?
Va Nang
MRI
,Kontum
CAMBODI
Tonle
Sap
VINH
BINH
Gulf of
Thailand
MR4
3
Capitol Special Zone
110
MR2
South
China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
190
MILES
16-
14-
12-
10-
556944 12-74
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
SOUTH VIETNAM
Communist forces have sharply
increased their activity in the Mekong
Delta. Most of the Communist ground and
shelling attacks, which began on
December 5, have been concentrated in the
central and southern sectors of the delta
in Chuong Thien, Kien Giang, Vinh Long,
and Vinh Binh provinces.
The northern part of the region has been gen-
erally quiet with the exception of Dinh Tuong
Province, where a number of Communist actions have
been reported along Route 4, the main road from
the delta to Saigon.
South Vietnamese military sources speculate
that the rash of attacks in the lower delta may
be an attempt by the Communists to divert atten-
tion from a possible offensive by elements of the
North Vietnamese 5th Division into the northern
sector. Several battalions of the South Vietnamese
9th Division are being shifted from the lower to
the upper delta in order to counter this threat.
There has been no comparable upsurge in
Communist military activity elsewhere in South
Vietnam, although some increase has been noted in
the provinces around Saigon over the past few
days.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CYPRUS
The newly reinstated President of
Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, and Turkish
Cypriot Vice President Denktash appeared
to leave themselves some room for maneu-
ver in future negotiations in their pub-
lic comments following Makarios' trium-
phant return to the island on Saturday.
Makarios said he would not accept a fait ac-
compli brought on by the Turkish invasion, nor
would he countenance the forced transfer of popu-
lations or a solution tantamount to partition.
He struck some conciliatory notes, however, citing
the need to abandon chauvinistic tendencies of the
past and his desire for negotiations with the Turk-
ish Cypriots. Makarios noted that this was not
the time to express his views on a solution.
Makarios was reportedly persuaded to adopt a
more flexible approach at his meeting. in Athensl
earlier this month with Greek Prime Minister. Kara7
manlis and then acting president Clerides. The
archbishop isnot likely to commit himself to a
specific negotiating position until he consults
with leading members of the Greek. Cypriot community.
Denktash gave a generally cool reception to.
Makarios' public remarks over the weekend. He
noted that Turkish Cypriots Consider Makarios the
leader of the Greek Cypriot community and no longer
acknowledge him as head of State- Denktash added
that Turkish Cypriots want to keep .open the door
to negotiations, but only if the Greek_Cypriots--
and Makarios in particular--accept the new reali-
ties on the island.
Denktash. repeated his call for a bi-zonal ,
geographic federation but said that. the powers of
the two regions in relation to the federal govern-
tent and the size of the Turkish region were nego-
tiable. The Turkish Cypriot leader warned that
if Makarios is uncompromising, the Greek and Turk-
ish Cypriot sectors of the island will, gradually
evolve into separate states.
According to ..the US embassy in. Nicosia, the
tension and fear.of violence that preceded Makarios!.
return had subsided by the time of the archbishop's
arrival because of public pledges from.the.extreme_
right that it would not make trouble. Elaborate
Hsecurity precautions alSo.helpedtas did _Denktash's
public reassurances .that Makarios_retAum_would not
bring new Turkish military operations.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
NOTES
USSR-France: General Secretary Brezhnev's
four-day visit to France last week continued the
trend toward closer relations between the two coun-
tries. The communiqug issued at the end of the
visit Saturday showed that, in particular, France
has moved much closer to the Soviet position on how
and when to conclude the European security confer-
ence. It also indicated a near identity of views
on the Middle East and Cyprus and confirmed a fur-
ther development of bilateral economic relations.
The acting head of the French delegation at the
European security conference claimed several days
ago that during preparations for Brezhnev's visit,
the French had discovered a new Soviet reasonable-
ness over some of the matters at issue at the se-
curity conference. He said that as a result,
France had altered its position on the conference.
USSR: The manned Soviet spacecraft, Soyuz 16,
returned safely to earth early yesterday morning.
Launched last Monday, the six-day flight was de-
signed to test the procedures the Soviet crew will
have to perform during the joint Apollo-Soyuz mis-
sion scheduled for next July. The Soviets appar-
ently encountered no problems with the spacecraft
that could affect the joint mission.
Greece: Greek voters decisively rejected the
monarchy EE yesterday's plebiscite. The parliament,
which is empowered to revise the constitution,
probably will appoint a provisional president while
the new constitution is being written. Panayotis
Kanellopoulos, a former premier, is the frontrunner
for the interim assignment.
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Top Secret
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