The following day, the Hungarian ambassador in London asked for clarification as to whether, in case of a German attack on Yugoslavia, Hungary would uphold the Treaty of Eternal Friendship. Bárdossy wrote back, copying the same message to his ambassador to the United States, stating that there was a very real likelihood that Yugoslavia would disintegrate, and that secession of Croatia and Slovenia would create a situation where Hungary would have to act to protect the Hungarian minority in Vojvodina. Acting under the impression that Horthy's letter had approved such action, Chief of the Hungarian General Staff, General Henrik Werth and his chief of operations, Colonel Dezső László were negotiating with German General Friedrich Paulus, chief of operations of the German Army. The Hungarian high command believed that the Germans needed evidence of Hungary's friendship, and, contradicting the conditions already set, agreed that Hungarian forces could operate outside former Hungarian territories within Yugoslavia.