RL policy official Edward Van Der Rhoer responds to concerns of AMCOMLIB policy official Catherine Dupuy (letter of June 12, 1961, attached) about a RL policy paper on Military Technology Achievements.

AMCOMLIB Deputy to the President Europe Kelley informs President Sargeant about differences with Radio Free Europe over publicity of the 1959 riots in Temirtau (Kazakhstan) and attaches a memorandum from Press and Public Relations Officer Robert Redlich. 

State Department official Lampton Berry conveys to Thomas Braden reservations about FEC Special Policy Guidance No. 19 [available in the Hoover Archives] that emphasized weakened Soviet control in Eastern Europe.

Assistant Secretary of State Edward Barrett reviews Free Europe Committee plans with Allen Dulles and other officials. The State Department vetoes startup of Radio Free Europe Baltic broadcasting on grounds that it would duplicate Voice of America broadcasts and insists that the Crusade for Freedom be toned down. Dulles subsequently rejects the latter point in a handwritten annotation.

Senior CIA and State Department officials review the August 21 OPC memorandum ["Office of Policy Coordination History of American Committee for Liberation"]. The State Department officials question whether disparate Russian émigré groups can cooperate enough to organize broadcasting to the USSR, while CIA director Walter Bedell Smith questions the cost of the project.

George Kennan authorizes Frank Wisner to proceed with a central Russian émigré organization initially focused on émigré welfare and subject to US government policy guidance. Wisner directs Office of Policy Coordination staff in a cover memorandum to proceed with the project.