15 april 1986Ik lunchte met Romanov in het Intourist Hotel, nog steeds razend dat eenUSSR-delegatie met vijf man naar New York zou reizen. Het scheelde weinig ofwe hadden werkelijk een twistgesprek gekregen. "I am free to tell you, Willem,you are wrong. I am no longer in government service. What do you wantLomeiko en Molchanov to do? They have no say in this. They are simply toldby the Party to go. After I had served four years in London, I was told to go toNigeria. I protested, that I was entitled to a leave of a few years at home, butthe Party had already decided." Hij wees er bovendien op dat men zich inMoskou niet kon bemoeien "with inner turmoil" bij de leiding van DenAlerdinck. "I learned never to be a friend of a communist again," zei ik,"because when the chips are down, a communist choses the Party not hisfriend." Dat was het cruciale moment waarop onze lunch uit de hand leek telopen.