THE NARODNO-TRUDOVOY SOYUZ (NATIONAL LABOR ALLIANCE), NTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02224223
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: February 28, 2024
• Document Release Date: January 29, 2024
• Case Number: F-2022-01537
• Publication Date: July 24, 1973

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations
SUBJECT The Narodno-Trudovoy Soyuz (National
Labor Alliance), NTS
REFERENCE
Letter From The Committee on Foreign
Relations Regarding NTS, dated 10 July 1973
1. Referenced letter signed by Senator J. W. Fulbright
asked the Agency to corroborate information which the Committee
on Foreign Relations had received concerning an anti-Soviet
organization called the Narodno-Trudovoy Soyuz (NTS) and
inquired about any connection, financial or otherwise, between
the NTS and the Agency. The NTS is a Russian emigre organiza-
tion which procures, publishes and distributes dissident
Soviet literature, in order to stimulate and sustain pressures
for liberalization and socio-political change in the Soviet
Union. Since its founding, 42 years ago in Belgrade, NTS
has become the best known Russian refugee group and the most
frequently attacked by the Soviet press.
2. Agency interest in NTS activities began in 1950.
Our relationship can be characterized as a liaison association
which places the major burden of operational planning,
allocation of funds and personnel upon the leaders of the
organization. In the period up until 1958 there was a gradual()(l)
growth of NTS operational activities and of Agency staff
:0(3)
personnel commitments in support of these activities. 0
Concurrently, the Agency's financial support increased
annually. In 1958,
as the result of a reassessment�b-i�bur relationship, the
A briefing paper is attached for discussing
the relationship between the Agency and NTS with Senator
Symington.
E2 IMPDET
CL BY 056580
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
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3. In view of the implications of Senator Fulbright's
query to other 40 Committee projects, we suggest that the
40 Committee (perhaps Dr. Kissinger himself) be informed
before answering Senator Fulbright's query. Also, follow-up
questions from the Senator might seek to determine by what
policy authority the Agency conducts this activity as well
as to try to determine if there are other activities in this
category. The answers to such questions might then eventually
involve the multi-project Special Activities targeted against
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe - in which the NTS project
is - revalidated by the 40 Committee(b)(l)
on 18 June 1973.
(b)(3)
4. It should be noted that Soviet Bloc Division only
recently was given responsibility for the NTS project. We
intend to take a hard look at the various aspects of NTS
activities to assess their value and contribution to the
Division's overall effort against the Soviet Bloc target.
Chief
Soviet Bloc Division
(b)(3)
(b)(6)
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Briefing Paper on CIA/NTS Relationship
1. NSC Approval: National Security Council Direc-
tive 40, signed on 17 February 1970 by President Nixon,
established an Interagency Committee to conduct an annual
review of all USG covert activities directed at the Soviet
Union. On 18 June 1973, this Committee, chaired by
Mr. Henry Kissinger, approved the continuing, unattributed
financial support by CIA of the Narodno-Trudovoy Soyuz
(NTS--National Labor Alliance), a Russian emigre organiza-
tion which procures, publishes and distributes dissident
Soviet literature in order to stimulate and sustain
pressures for liberalization and socio-political change
from within the Soviet Union.
2. CIA Support: CIA has been providing financial
support to the NTS since 1951.
a. Historical View of CIA Relationship: CIA's
initial objective was to help the NTS expand its clandestine
activities against the Soviet regime and its operations
against Soviet occupation forces in Germany and Austria.
CIA decided as early as 1957 to reorient its relationship
with NTS (and reduce the level of support) by discontinuing
attempts at close control and monitoring of NTS activities
in favor of a subsidy, giving NTS greater flexibility in
allocation of funds and in the assignment of priorities
to their activities. This change in the operational rela-
tionship coincided with a new direction in the NTS program:
encouraging and supporting existing Soviet dissidence aimed
at evolutionary change, rather than the overthrow of the
Soviet regime.
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b. Current CIA Objectives: CIA's current interest
in the NTS is to aid and abet intellectual ferment which
could facilitate political liberalization in the Soviet
Union. Direct involvement prior to the execution of NTS
operations has been intentionally avoided and NTS media
are not supervised prior to publication. As a result, NTS
is in a position to take sole responsibility for responding
to any complaints by a government on whose soil its activities
take place. CIA attempts to influence the NTS through
operational suggestions and proposals. NTS is fully aware
that CIA could terminate its support at any time the NTS
committed an act which was seriously counter-productive
to the Agency's general strategy against the USSR.
3. NTS History and Activity: The NTS remains, as it
has been since it was founded 42 years ago in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, the best-known of all Russian refugee groups
and the most frequently attacked by the Soviet press. NTS
headquarters and its publication activities are located in
Frankfurt and Mainz, West Germany; its members reside world-
wide. The dozen or so top NTS leaders are veterans of the
organization who exercise tight discipline over its acti-
vities. The NTS fosters opposition to the Soviet regime
by a variety of means:
a. The NTS has made publicized appeals to high
Soviet officials and international organizations; helped
in the formation of Western committees to garner support
for Soviet intellectual dissenters; stimulated occasional
open demonstrations in the USSR; and supplied materials to
internal dissenters designed to strengthen their position.
Many emigres who have left the USSR have praised the propa-
ganda messages contained in NTS books and journals. Much
of the material in these publications is samizdat (political,
economic, social writings produced and distributed by indi-
viduals in the Soviet Union without the permission of the
authorities). NTS propaganda also includes news items
and political commentary which are not found in the Soviet
press.
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c. The NTS publishing house, Possev-Verlag,
Frankfurt, produces two journals; Posev, a monthly devoted
mainly to commentary on developments in the USSR, and Grani,
a literary quarterly. About 15 books per year are also
published. Soviet writers who are seeking foreign outlets
for the publication of their work are displaying an increasing
willingness to deal on a discreet basis with representatives
of NTS publications. Samizdat now constitutes a major
source of material in all NTS publications. Members of
the new wave of emigrants, who have praised NTS for the
work it is doing, have also started to contribute to Posey.
d. A secondary activity of the publishing house
is a press service which maintains contact with a group
of journalists and also sends out press releases. In
1971, this service placed articles or provided the materials
for articles in more than 50 outlets located in 13 countries.
Among these outlets were the London Times, London Daily
Telegraph, Le Figaro (Paris), and the Neue Zueriater Zeitung.
NTS publications are frequently cited in serious academic
and governmental studies on the USSR.
4. Charges of Nazi Collaboration: The Soviet press
has frequently charged the NTS with collaboration with the
Nazis against the Soviet Union during World War II. There
is no doubt some NTS members worked for the Germans as a
means of combating the Soviet regime; however, in July 1944,
100 officers of the NTS were arrested and imprisoned by
the Gestapo on charges of underground publishing activity,
conducting covert border crossings, obtaining revenue
illegally and clandestine collection of materials and
information.
5. Summary: The NTS is a useful operational vehicle
for exfiltrating samizdat written by Soviet dissident authors.
In addition, it plays an important role by publishing these
pieces in regular NTS journals and NTS-produced books; and,
finally by infiltrating the product into the USSR. These
undertakings help to sustain and strengthen the morale of
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the dissidents in the face of increasing KGB pressure and
serve to make their ideas more available to liberal elements
within the USSR. The publications have had a marked and
wholesome effect on the Soviet officials abroad, as well.
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