KGB to Politburo: proposal that Soviet bloc boycott International Rostropovich competition in Paris. Draft CPSU decree attached (2 pp). [R 12 May 1977, 958-A]

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SECRET

12 May 1977
No.958-A

To the CPSU Central Committee

The international Rostropovich competition for young cellists

According to information received, the Association of International Gatherings in Contemporary Art intends to hold a “Rostropovich Competition for Young Cellists” in Paris from 27 June to 3 July 1977 and has announced this as one of the events to mark his 50th anniversary. Preparations for the competition are being accompanied in the West by a noisy advertising campaign.

In the present situation it seems expedient to instruct the USSR Ministry of Culture to inform the cultural bodies of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the Hungarian People’s Republic, the GDR, Cuba, the Mongolian People’s Republic, the Polish People’s Republic and the Czechoslovak SSR [1], that it would be undesirable for representatives of the socialist countries to take part in the above-mentioned competition. (A draft Central Committee Resolution is attached.)

We request authorisation

CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE FOR STATE SECURITY

ANDROPOV

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Secret
Draft

CPSU CENTRAL COMMITTEE RESOLUTION

On measures concerning the international Rostropovich competition
for young cellists (France, 1977)

Instruct the USSR Ministry of Culture to inform the cultural bodies of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the Hungarian People’s Republic, the GDR, Cuba, the Mongolian People’s Republic, the Polish People’s Republic and the Czechoslovak SSR [1] that it would be undesirable for representatives of the socialist countries to take part in the international Rostropovich competition for young cellists, which is scheduled to take place between 27 June and 3 July 1977.

SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

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NOTES

[1] The winner in 1977 was a young violinist from Rumania.

General

1. Notes and additions by translator and editor are bracketed, thus [ ];
2. Text added by hand is indicated in italic script;
3. when a handwritten phrase, figure or word has been added
to a previously typed document it is indicated by underlined italic script.

Translation, John Crowfoot