or within the provisions of the Charter, to afford Greece the protection to which we think she is entitled under the Charter. I shall have the draft resolution which I mentioned at the beginning of this intervention written and distributed to the Members of the Council. 141. ESTABLISHING THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE BALKANS (UNSCOB) Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly, October 21, 1947 1 1. WHEREAS The peoples of the United Nations have expressed in the Charter of the United Nations their determination to practise tolerance and to live together in peace with one another as good neighbours and to unite their strength to maintain international peace and security; and to that end the Members of the United Nations have obligated themselves to carry out the purposes and principles of the Charter, 2. The General Assembly of the United Nations, HAVING CONSIDERED the record of the Security Council proceedings in connection with the complaint of the Greek Government of 3 December 1946, including the report submitted by the Commission of Investigation established by the Security Council resolution of 19 December 1946 and information supplied by the Subsidiary Group of the Commission of Investigation subsequent to the report of the Commission; 3. TAKING ACCOUNT of the report of the Commission of Investigation which found by a majority vote that Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia had given assistance and support to the guerrillas fighting against the Greek Government; 4. Calls upon Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to do nothing which could furnish aid and assistance to the said guerrillas; 5. Calls upon Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the one hand and Greece on the other to co-operate in the settlement of their disputes by peaceful means, and to that end recommends: (1) That they establish normal diplomatic and good neighbourly relations among themselves as soon as possible; (2) That they establish frontier conventions providing for effective machinery for the regulation and control of their common frontiers and for the pacific settlement of frontier incidents and disputes; (3) That they co-operate in the settlement of the problems arising out of the presence of refugees in the four States concerned through voluntary repatriation wherever possible and that they take effective measures to prevent the participation of such refugees in political or military activity; (4) That they study the practicability of concluding agreements for the voluntary transfer of minorities. 6. Establishes a Special Committee: (1) To observe the compliance by the four Governments concerned with the foregoing recommendations; The United States and the United Nations: Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1947, Department of State publication 3024, International Örganization and Conference Series III, 1, pp. 155-157. (2) To be available to assist the four Governments concerned in the implementation of such recommendations; 7. Recommends that the four Governments concerned co-operate with the Special Committee in enabling it to carry out these obligations; 8. Authorizes the Special Committee, if in its opinion further consideration of the subject matter of this resolution by the General Assembly prior to its next regular session is necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security, to recommend to the Members of the United Nations that a special session of the General Assembly be convoked as a matter of urgency; 9. Decides that the Special Committee Shall consist of representatives of Australia, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, seats being held open for Poland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; 10. Shall have its principal headquarters in Salonika and with the co-operation of the four Governments concerned shall perform its functions in such places and in the territories of the four States concerned as it may deem appropriate; 11. Shall render a report to the next regular session of the General Assembly and to any prior special session which might be called to consider the subject matter of this resolution, and shall render such interim reports as it may deem appropriate to the Secretary-General for transmission to the Members of the Organization; in any reports to the General Assembly the Special Committee may make such recommendations to the General Assembly as it deems fit; 12. Shall determine its own procedure, and may establish such subcommittees as it deems necessary; 13. Shall commence its work within thirty days after the final decision of the General Assembly on this resolution, and shall remain in existence pending a new decision of the General Assembly; 14. The General Assembly, Requests the Secretary-General to assign to the Special Committee staff adequate to enable it to perform its duties, and to enter into a standing arrangement with each of the four Governments concerned to assure the Special Committee, so far as it may find it necessary to exercise its functions within their territories, of full freedom of movement and all necessary facilities for the performance of its functions. 142. FRONTIER VIOLATIONS AS BASIC ISSUE IN GREEK SITUATION 1 1 Statement Issued by Department of State, May 20, 1949 A Tass despatch has referred to conversations on Greece among representatives of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States during the recent General Assembly. The following is a brief summary of the facts: On April 26, during the course of informal dinner table conversations at the home of Trygve Lie, various matters on the agenda of 1 Department of State Bulletin of May 29, 1949, pp. 696-697. the United Nations were discussed by Andrei Gromyko, Hector McNeil, and Dean Rusk. At one point in this conversation, Mr. Rusk expressed the hope that the three governments would use their influence to bring about a settlement of the Greek question, in order that the Greek people might concentrate on the reconstruction of their country. Mr. Gromyko commented that if foreign troops were withdrawn the matter would solve itself. Mr. Rusk replied that our military assistance to Greece had become necessary because of conditions created in Greece by armed rebellion against the Greek Government by the guerrillas, directly assisted by Greece's three northern neighbors. Mr. Rusk also called Mr. Gromyko's attention to the efforts being made by the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (UNSCOB) and to Mr. Evatt's conciliation efforts at Lake Success. Mr. Gromyko's reaction to these United Nations efforts in the matter followed the same negative lines employed by the Soviet delegation in the course of the Greek debate in the United Nations. Shortly thereafter Mr. Gromyko asked to see Mr. McNeil and Mr. Rusk who called upon him on May 4. Mr. Gromyko referred to the previous "vague" conversation and said he wished to discuss the matter further in more concrete terms. Mr. Rusk and Mr. McNeil made it clear that such an informal conversation should imply no change in the forum for discussing the Greek question from existing United Nations channels. Mr. Gromyko then referred to certain proposals which had been made in Prague by Mr. Porphyroghenis of the Greek guerrilla junta. Mr. Gromyko characterized these proposals as calling for a cease-fire, a general amnesty, and new elections, in the administration of which the guerrilla forces would participate. Mr. Rusk reiterated that the main issue was the illegal furnishing of assistance across Greece's northern frontier to rebels in Greece and that the United Nations was the appropriate forum for discussion of that issue. It is of interest to note that on May 7, three days after this conversation, the Greek guerrilla radio broadcast that communications in the foreign press on the guerrilla proposals "do not correspond with the views of the provisional democratic government . . . which has not yet officially expounded anywhere its concrete views on this question." McNeil and Rusk again saw Gromyko briefly on May 14 at the plenary session of the General Assembly at Flushing Meadows. In this conversation Rusk and McNeil made it clear that while we would welcome the restoration of peace in Greece, we could not negotiate on the matter except in an appropriate international forum which provided for full participation by the Greek Government. Rusk again specifically referred to UNSCOв and to Mr. Evatt's conciliation efforts. He stated further that the main issue was the illegal activities of Greece's northern neighbors, particularly Albania and Bulgaria, in furnishing assistance to rebels in Greece. At the close of the above conversation, Mr. Gromyko said that he had three other points which had not been mentioned earlier. First, the Soviet Union would be willing to participate with the great powers in the supervision of a new Greek election; second, the Soviet Union would be willing to join with the great powers in a commission to "control" the northern frontier of Greece; and third, all foreign mili tary assistance, both matériel and personnel, would have to be withdrawn from Greece. There have been no further conversations. In the Department's view, the basic issue in the Greek situation is. the violation of Greece's northern frontier by military and other assistance to the rebel forces in Greece. This illegal foreign intervention has been repeatedly exposed by the competent organs of the United Nations and denounced by an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly as endangering the peace and as inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter. The United Nations has had this problem before it since 1946 and has established the means for settling it. The General Assembly elected both the Soviet Union and Poland to membership on the present United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans, but both have refused to take their seats. The action of the Soviet Union in blocking effective action in the Security Council, in refusing to participate in the effort of the General Assembly to bring about a settlement, and in lending encouragement to the illegal operations which have disturbed the peace, explain why peace has not yet been achieved. Internal questions such as an amnesty and elections are matters for determination by the Greek Government. We believe that that Government has made a sincere and genuine effort to settle the matter with the help of the United Nations and in a manner consistent with the security of Greece. United States military assistance became necessary because of the direct threat to the independence and integrity of Greece. It was in direct response to the situation created by the illegal intervention of Greece's northern neighbors. So long as that situation continues, the United States will not relax its determination to assist the Greeks in protecting themselves against this form of aggression. We would, however, welcome a bona fide effort by the Soviet Union to remove the threat to the peace and security of the Greek people and hope that it will use its influence in full support of the United Nations in seeking a settlement. At no time during any of the informal conversations referred to above was any suggestion made that the Greek question be discussed in the Council of Foreign Ministers. The United States has consistently taken the view that we are prepared to discuss any matter with the Soviet Union in the proper forum; in the case of the Greek question, it is the United Nations in which the Greek Government would have full participation. 143. UNITED STATES POSITION ON GREEK CASE1 Remarks by Secretary Acheson, September 21, 1949 (Excerpts) With respect to the Greek question, the Balkan Commission has concluded that Yugoslavia has decreased, and may well have ceased, its aid to the Greek guerrillas, and that guerrilla activities in general are declining, but the danger still exists because of continuing aid, principally from Albania. It is timely for this Assembly to make a renewed effort to restore peace along the northern Greek border and Department of State Bulletin, October 3, 1946, pp. 489–490. 98756-50-50 to re-establish normal relations between Greece and all its norther neighbours. Outside aid to the guerrillas must stop and Greece must be permitted to bind up its wounds. This session can afford further opportunity for continued and sincere efforts among interested parties to bring about this result. I believe that I express a widely shared desire in this Assembly when I voice the hope that the Soviet Union, which in the past has not participated in the Balkan Commission, will join in renewed consultations looking towards a settlement of this persistent and serious problem. If the northern neighbours of Greece have come to realize that their own self interest requires respect for the recom mendations of the United Nations and an adjustment of their relations with Greece, I feel that a solution can be reached at this time. 144. SUSPENSION OF ACTIVITIES OF CONCILIATION COMMITTEE1 Letter From the President of the General Assembly to the The Conciliation Committee created by the First Committee at its 276th meeting on 29 September 1949 to reach a pacific settlement of existing differences between Greece on one hand, and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other, after holding twenty-nine meetings has authorized me to report with regret that in spite of its best efforts it was unable to develop a basis of conciliation on which an agreement could be reached between the Governments of Albania. Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece. However, the Committee believes that the discussions served a useful purpose in clarifying and in some cases narrowing the points of difference between the Governments concerned and can serve as a starting point in case conditions in the future should warrant the resumption of the Committee's work. I need hardly add that the Committee would be happy to resume its efforts at any time during the present session whenever the parties concerned consider this to be desirable. In the meantime, the Conciliation Committee has no alternative but to suspend its activities in order that the First Committee may resume its discussion of the question of the threats to the political independence and territorial integrity of Greece. That discussion was postponed pending the work of the Conciliation Committee. The reason for that postponement now unfortunately no longer exists. I regret that I have to make a report of this negative character. I am confident that the members of the First Committee will accept my assurance that the Conciliation Committee did everything in its power to facilitate agreement between the parties concerned. Whether by this means or by direct negotiations between the interested Governments, it is essential to reach such an agreement if conditions of security and stability are to be restored in the areas concerned. 1 Department of State Bulletin of October 31, 1949, pp. 647-648. UN Doc. A/C.1/503. |