S/PV.165 Security Council

Before we start our discussion on the Greek question, 1 want to inform the members of the Council that 1 intend to calI a meeting tomorrow. There were to have been two meetings tomorrow: in the morning a meeting of Committee 2 of the Atomic Energy Commission, and in the afternoon the Commission for Conventional Armaments. The latter meeting has been called off. 1 propose to calI a meeting of the Security Council tomorrow morning, and ask the Chairman of Committee 2 of the Atomic Energy Commission whether he would aàapt the meeting of his Committee to this arrangement. 244. Continuation of the discussion on the Greek question . The PRESIDENT: Paragraph 3 of the amend-- ments (document S/429) submitted by the United Kingdom1 to the draft resolution (docu- ment S/391) of the United States2 is under discussion now. Ther.e was a sugge'>tion made bythe representative of Colombias to include' the establishm.ent of normal diplomatic relations in the t~t of paragraph 3 of those amendments. May 1 ask the representative of the United States to give his reaction to the proposal made by the representative of Colombia? Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): 1 think that the establishmc~t of diplomatic relations among these four States is one of the Înost desirable objectives for which we are work- ing. We should endeavour to facilitate the re- sumption of such relations by all the means in our power. Technically speaking, however, it is not neces- sary for diplomatic relations to be resumed be- fore the conventions recommended in the Qther part of the present text are negotiated. There may be technical difficulties in connexion with the resumption of diplomatie relations in the purely formai sense; 1 shall cite only one of these, namely, the fact that the Bulgarian peace treaty is not yet ratified. 1 do not know that that is an insuperable obstacle, but it might be technical objection. 1 think normal diplomatic relations might weIl come before these conven- tions have been concluded. 1 should see no objectiun to the Council's ex- pressing in this resolution tlie hope that normal diplomatie relations may be resumed as soon as possible. 1 merely do not think it is a necessary' condition precedent to the fulfilment of the other objectives in this particular clause of the reso- lution. :Mr. L6PEz (Colombia): ln the view of the Colombian del~gation, it is of quite some im- In the first place, our suggestion to reeom- mend ta the four Govemments that they should estab!ish diplomatie relations is within the mean- ing, the purp6se and the idea of the Council. In doing this, even if the four countries do nat want to establish diplomatie relations, we shall not be losing anything or taking any undue responsi- bility or risk. We shan he acting very logically in recommending that the four countries con- eemed should establish diplomatie relations as a preliminary step to entering into other agree- ments. On the other hand, if it should develop, as one might be inclined to deduce from the dis- cussion at the hundred and sixty-fourth meeting, that these four countries do not want to establish diplomatic relations among themselves, 1 think the Council should begin to consider the necessity for takingvery positive action in order to avoid trouble in the Balkans. After all, the trouble at the frontier is not some- thing which has developed independently of the wishes of the Governments. In our opinion, if there is trouble at the frontier it is because the Governments want to have trouble, at least in the sense that we are cOJ:isidering the case in the Couneil. It would be advisable for the Council ta look more to the capitals of the Balkan coun- tries and to the Governments concerned than to what their agents do at the frùntier. We should much prefer to take the other approach, and go ta the Governments and tell them what we want· them to do and what we expeet them to do in accordance with our recommendations, than to go ta the frontier and have the Security Council do police dutYbetween one band and another. Therefore, we think it would be very useful ta put this mto our recommendations. We are Mr. LAWFORD (United Kingdom): 1 cer- tainly appreCiate the force of the arguments pre- sented by the representative of Colombia, and the motives which have inspired them; but 1 think, before we adopt t..he proposai, there are one or two points we should consider. It has already been pointed out by the repre- sentative of the United States that normal diplo- matie relations are not essential to the conclusion ·of treaties. That is only one point; but there are other points which should be taken into con- sideration. If we look into the state of relations, diplomatie or otherwise, between Greece and ïts northem neighbcurs at present, what do we find? What is the state of affairs between Greece and Yugoslavia? As far as 1 know; diplomatie relations exist. There is a Greek Minister in Bel- grade. The Yugoslav Government, for reasons of its own, decided to withdraw its Minister from Athens; 1 believe it is represented by aChargé d'affaires. But at any rate, technically speaking, diplomatie relations are in existence between Greece and Yugoslavia. As regards Bulgaria and Greece, 1 agree with the United States representative that technically it is not possible for' normal diplomatie relations to exist between those two countries 1.1l1til the Bulgarian peace treaty has been ratified, because a state of war still exists. ' Now we come to Albania. It may be that it would be most desirable for the state of war which exists between Greece and Albania to come ta an end, but 1 am not quite sure whether we as a Council would be justified in recom- mending in this case that Greece should have diplomatie relations with Albania. My country does not have diplomatic relations with Albania, nor has the Pnited States, nor, 1 believe, does Colombia-I am not sure of the last country. As 1 say, 1 do not know how proper it would be for us as a Council to recommend that a cer- tain country should do something which sorne of us ourselves have not done. 1 only bring that out as a point which may be worthy of con- sideration. Mr. VAN LANGENHOVE (Belgium) (translated trom French): The majority of the members of the Security Council are certainly of the opinion that the re-establishment of normal diplomatie relations among the four countries is desirable. However, 1 share the opinion expressed a mo- ment ago by the representative of the United States that, although the re-establishment of nor- mal diplomatie relations is desirable, it is not indispensable in the case at hand. . Charte Consequently, they have no more light than other Members of the United Nations to invoke the state of their diplomatie relations ~gainst the operation of the Charter system and apinst any resolution which may be adopted. Accordingly, sinee a remark concerning the re- est~blishment of normal diplomatie relations seems likely to cause some difficulties, if not con- fusion, I feel that it wOHld be better not ta press the point; and if an arr,endment to this effect is put ta a vote, the Belgian delegation will abstain. It wishes, in any case, to --mphasize that, in its opinion, the absence of normal diplomatie rela- tions cannat be ar,t obstacle to the application of the resolutions which may be adopted by the Security Council. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): 1 wish to add that I agree with the suggestion made by our Colom- bian colleague. 1 believe that the existence of diplomatie relations among these States would be helpful not only in subsequent negotiations for the elaboration of conventions, but aIso in clear- ing up the incidents on the frontiers by having direct communications between the States. More- ovet, ît would be helpful in appeasing public feeling in bath countries. When the people be- lieve that hostility and a state of war exist be.. tween States, it is very clifficult to appease public opinion on the frontiers aIié in the remaining portions of the countries. We find that the ex- istence of diplomatie relations is fundamental and essential to the existence of the friendly, neighbourly relations which are suggested by the United States proposai. I.cannot see how good- neighbourly relations can exist when the people in the two countries believe that they are in a state of war, and that they are hostile towards each other. There would be no harm in the Security Council's recommending that normal diplomatie relations should be established among all the States. There is, however, an objection raised by the United States and the United Kingdom delegations thatthe peace treaty has not yet been ratified. This is certainly plausible and ought ta be taken L'1to consideration. But since now is the time when the Security Council has an oppor- tunity to make recommendations, it should make For this reason, it would not be prudent to .overlook this point in our recommendations, and to fail to refer to the Security Council's desire' that friendly relations and diplomatic relations should be established among the States. They are very near each other, and there are many things which necessitate the existence not only of friendly neighbourliness but also of diplomatic relations among them. Therefore, 1 think that·if we put it in that form-that is, that the Security Council recom- mends the establishment of nonnal diplomatie relations among these States as soon as tech- nically possible-it would be helpful. Colonel HODGSON (Australia): We had fin- ished the examination of paragraph 2 of the United Kingdom amendmen~ and had begun paragraph 3. Then the representative of Colom- bia suggested that those frontier conventions could not be brought into force unless normal diploma,tic relations had been established in the meantime. Therefore, we are now back on para- graph 2, because the representative of Columbia suggested-and the Council showd be clear on this point-that we should eliminate the words "good-neighbourly relations" in paragraph 2 and substitute for it the words "diplomatie relations." My delegation thinks that the two ideas are not in any way synonymous. You can have nor- mal diplomatic relations, but that does not con- note that you are going to have good-neighbourly relations. However, the reverse is true; the estab- lishment of good-neighbourly relations does con- note that you have established normal diplomatic relations. It seems to me that the essential and paramount thing for us to do is to establish good-neighbourly relations. We certainly saw the need for that at the hundred and sixty-fourth meeting. It has been suggested that you cannot get the four States involved to enter into these frontier conventions unless they have diplomatie rela- tions. 1 do not propose to go into the technical position; that has already been argued. But Wc cannot ac<:ept the point of view that it is essential t0 have normal diplomatic relations as a prelinùnary condition. We'hink the most im- portant thing is to establish good-neighbourly relations. For that reason, we prefer the text to stand as it stands. Colonel KERENXHI (Albania) (translated . from French): The present discussion is con- cemed with the frontier conventions to be con- c1uded between Greece and the' other Balkan countries, including Albania. We -must take into consideration, however, the serious obstacles cre- ated by the attitude of Greece to the conclusion of the establishment of these conventions. The first of these obstacles is the absence of diplo- matie relations and the second the fact that Greece considers itself ta be at war witb, om country. Even if frontier conventions collid oe con- cluded in the abcenc..... of diplomatic relations, the 1 fact that Greece considers itself to be in astate of war would make it impossible to apply such conventions in practic~. l would even say that it seems incomprehensible to contemplate fron- tier conventions in such circumstances. Furthermore, the necessary confidence would not exist between the respective frontier authori- ties in the localities where these conventions are ta be applied, that is to sayon the frontiers with which they are concerned, since, 1 repeat, one of the contracting parties would still consider it- self to be in a state of war. Such a situation renders the application of frontier conventions impmcticable; in addition, it would be impossible to conclude such conven- tions from a technieal point of view, since Greece's entire policy towards Albania is col- oured by the idea that a state of war exists. 1shall now pass t~' t11e argument l'aised by the United Kingdom representative. Unless 1 am mistaken, we are concerned with the necessity of establishing relations between Greece, on the one hand, and the three other countries on the other hand; whereas no mention is made of the neces- sity of establishing relations between Albania and the other countries of the world. We are faced with a situation or a specific aspect of the problem of diplomatie rela~ions be- tween several countries. We are discussing the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Balkan countries, because the situation forces us Mr. VILFAN (Yugoslavia) (translated trom French): The question which is at present be- fore us seems to me a very important one. Our Government has always stressed the fact that the establishment of dîplomatic relations, and above all of good-neighbourly relations among the countries concerned, is a primary condition for any positive action. l cannat quite follow the reasoning which is put before us. We are told that the immediate objective is the re-establishment of diplomatie re- lations, good-neighbourly relations coming after- wards. This amounts to saying that it would be more logical to proceed a minore ad majus, that is to say, to begin with diplomatic relations with a view to establishing good-neighbourly relations afterwards. However, the importance of estab- lishing diplomatic relations is denied. l am wondering whether, by persistentiy neg- lecting the importance of diplomatic relations, it is not desired to prevent the establishment of good-neighbourly relations. My Government would have no difficulty in accepting a recommendation of the type sug- gested by the representative of Colombia. In fact, it feeIs that such a recommendation would be very necessary. The representative of the United Kingdom has aIready referred to the fact that so far as Greece and Yugoslavia are concerned, diplo- matie relations exist; my Government has but one desire, namely that these diplomatic relations should develop normally. l should like in this connexion to remind you once more that we are prepared to renew the frontier conventions which existed before the war. Only the Greek Government has rejected our proposal. My Govemment would be pre- pared to accept the suggestion of the representa- tive of Colombia. In this connexion, l should like to answer briefly the doubt he has expressed as to the good will of the Governments c6ncerned. l may say that it is of the greatest importance ta my Gov- ernment that order should be maintained on its southern frontier and that no incidents should take place on that frontier. Our Government, in fact,. is fully engaged in the work of recon- struction, and such frontier incidents cannot but prove harmful ta this work. Mr. Lé.PEZ (Colombia): l hope l shall not appear to be taxing the patience of the Security Council too much if l try to make the point of In the first place, 1 should like to say that 1 do not believe 1 stated that we consider it in- dispensable to have diplomatie relations in order to enter into the frontier conventions. If 1 said that or implied that, 1 wish to make this correc- tion :1 simply believe that the natural course to follow is to have diplomatie relations first and, once that is accomplished, 1 believe it will be found easier to negotiate the other conventions. It can be attempted the other way, but 1 believe 1 have already expressed very serious doubts as regards the feasibility of doing it successfully that way. If the States concerned do not have good diplomatie relations with each other, if they do P.ot approach the problem in a co-operative spirit of Ul}.derstanding and good will, 1 believe that our commission will find plenty of opportunity for argument, very good grounds for writing a very long report, and probably will meet with numerous minor incidents. ln our view-and 1 say that this is onIy our view, because 1 understand there is not going to be any voting on our recommendation since it has not been formally submitted as such1-if it is pO:'1sible for the Balkan countries to establish diplomatie relations, that would be a true ex- pression of good-neighbourly relations. 1 doubt very much if there will be good-neighbourly re- lations among the Balkan countries if it is found ,that they cannot establish normal diplomatie re- lations. As to that, of course, anybody can be- lieve or anticipate whatever he wishes. 1 have not said that the frontier conventions should not be negotiated until diplomatie rela- tions are established; on the contrary, my sug- gestion is: "To recommend to the Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia to establish as soon as possible normal diplomatic relations." Even if it is not possible to establish diplomatie relations soon, 1 do not see that that is a good reason why the Security Council should not express the will that they should be estab- lished as S0011 as possible. If that is not the prope; wording, 1 fail to see why any member of the Council who is better acquaL"1ted than we are with the situation, and who knows the technical difficulties better than we do, could not help us by suggesting a more proper and more acceptable wording for the recommendation. ~hat is, as 1 say, just a suggestion. 1 hope the Umted Kingdom representative will allow me to say that 1 found his argument rather out of plac~. 1 do not believe that the fact of our not The United Kingdom representative knows ..s -weil as l do that a small nation like ours, whieh does not have trading relations aU over the world, which does not exercise great political in- fluence, and 'Which does not have large Hrrrues or large navies, does not usually have reiations with every other country in the world. 'l'hat is a privilege of the major Powers; it is not a privi- lege of small nations like Colombia. For that reason, l do not believe that sueh a cireumstance should deter us from respeetfully submitting this point of view. The faet that we do not have diplomatie rela- tions does not in any way diminish or detraet from our interest in the situation. As things go today, if there is war in the Balkans we shall probably have war in Europe, and if we have war in Europe my eountry will most likely L involved, whether Colombia likes it or not. That is a privilege of the small nations-to be involved in every world war, whether we like it or not. That, to rny mind, is the real reason why we should not shrink from our duty in restating our point of view, even at the risk, as l said at the beginning, of taxi."lg the patience of the Security CouneiI. l believe it is to the advantage of everybody eoncerned to have a very hroad discussion on this question in aIl its aspects. For instance, l have found it very encouraging and l have been very mueh stimulated by hearing the representatives of YugG.;lavia and Albania express their willing- ness to have diplomatie relations with Greece. l believe that is a step in the right direction if, as we believe, we should try to create what the Australian representative caUed "good-neigh- bourly relations" among the Balkan parties. We believe it is the first condition of peace in the Balkans to have good-neighbourly relations by establishing diplomatie relations. Of course, if the Council believes otherwise, it is perfeetly satisfaetory to us; we are merely very respeet- fully submitting a suggestion, and l say again that l do not want to press my point and l do not want to have a vote on the suggestion. • l should like ta explain that we have been diseussing the reeommendations of the represen- tative of the United Kingdom and have been dealing with paragraph 3 eoneerning the ques- Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): 1 have been very much impressed by the state- ment of the representative of Colombia and by the obvious motivation behind it. 1 agree with Mr. Lopez's argument that good-neighbourly re- lations, which we all desire and which aIl coun- tries desire as the basis of peace, would more naturally and properly flow from the establish- ment or the existence of normal diplomatie rela- tions between countries than from a situation in 'which normal diplomatie relations do not exist. 1 agree ta that. 1 think, however, that it is techhically possible to have normal diplomatie relations and yet have very bad neighbourly relations; diplomatie rela- tions may facilitate, but not necessarily bring about good-neighbourly relations, urJess the de- sire ta have good-neighbourly relations is aIso present. We know of many instances where countries have maintained normal diplomatie re- lations for very long periods, and then one of them has suddenly found that the other was at its throat without warning. If 1 understand the representative of Colom- bia, he is proposing, however, that we substitute the expression "normal diplomatie relations" for the expression which is now in the United King- dom amendment. 1 would hope that bath .. phrases could be included. The present text, although embodied in the United Kingdom . amendment, was·actually recommended by the United States in its resolution. These United Kingdom amendments are merely setting forth in detail the proposaIs A, B, D and E of the Commission's report; the United States can therefore whole-heartedly support this United Kingdom amendmcnt. It has given effect, in more detailed form, ta what we were already recommending. 1 should also like ta mention that the United States representative on the Commission has in- formed me that, when these proposals or recom- mendations were being considered in the Com- mlssion, the question of recommending the establishment of normal diplomatie relations was discussed-at least informally-amongst sorne of the representatives. His feeling, which was shared by sorne of the ot1-- ~rs, was that it was not a proper recommendatiùn for the Commission i~elf ta make; it was a political recommenda- tIon which, if it came, should come from the Coüncil. He personally acted on that basis. The proposal made by the representative of Colombia is.therefore entirely in arder, and is ~col1Sistent ~th the spirit as well as the letter of ~~~-~,..._._...•~._.. _...._-_......__........._.. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): When 1 agreed with the suggestil)n made by the Colombian dele- gation, 1 had before me the paper it had dis· tributed, in which it is stated very clearly in paragraph 1 that the Security Council should "recommend to the Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Yuogoslavia to establish .as soon as possible normal diplomatie relations," and in paragraph 2, "to maintain good-neigh- bourly relations...". Therefore, both texts are incorporated in the Colombian paper; this point was also explained very clearly by the representa- tive of Colombia. 1 do not know the origin of the idea that one paragraph was to replace the other; but when 1 agreed to the suggestion, it was with the under- standing that both recommendations would be inserted.

The representative of the United States has expressed his willingness to accept the suggestion conceming the establishment of diplomatie relations. There is the question of drafting, about which 1 am not quite clear. We started a discussion on the point in connexion with paragraph 3 of the United Kingdom amendments. The representative of Australia then suggested that the point could he introduced in the preceding United Kingdom amendment, paragraph 2. The representative of Syria suggested, if 1 understood him correctly, that there should be a separate paragraph following the text. in the paper presented by the representative of Colombia, which reads, "To recommend to the Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia to establish' as soon as possible normal diplomatie relations among themselves". Therefore, we have several possible ways of drafting this suggestion. Mr. EL-KHOURI (Syria): 1 do not think it would be advisable ta combine these recommendations in one sentence as the representative of Australia has suggested. One of them could be easily and promptly carried out, since there would be no difficulties in the way, while for the other there are certain technical obstacles whieh have already been mentioned. If we say, "establish as saon as possible normal diplomatic and good-neighbourly relations", that means both types of relations are govemed by the same conditions and the same situation. "As saon as possible" means as saon as judiciously or practicably possible, while the establishment of diplomatic relations is bound by the peace treaty and sa one. 1 think it would be better and clearer ta separate the two ideas. Friendly relations ought to be established soon, without any objection and without any hindrance, since that is the recommendation of the Security Council. The good-neighbourliness should be felt immediately. 1t may take sorne time ta establish diplomatic relations. Therefore, 1think it would be preferable to separate the two recommendations,' not necessarily into different paragraphs, but under different headings. The representative of Australia might put Ît in the same way that he propos~d, but in separate sentences. Mr. L6PEz (Colombia): Perhaps the representative of the United States or the representative of the United Kingdom can suggest a better wording. Otherwise, 1 believe that the logical way ta present the resolution would be, first, "Ta recommend to the Govemments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia to establish as soon as possible normal diplomatic relations amongst themselves." The second paragraph ", 1 think that the point raised by the Syrian representative is a very strong one. It would per':' haps be a much bett€r idea to leave the second paragraph as it stands now, and then to make a separate recommendation about our desire to have diplomatic relations established as soon as possible.

As no formal proposal has been made, 1 think the choice of the drafting should be left to the representatives of the United . States and the United Kingdom. 1want to point out that, if the suggestion of the representative of Colombia were accepted, the' proper wording should be: -"The Security Council recommends to the Governments" and so on; that would be in keeping with the wording of the other paragraphs. Mr. JOHNSON (United States of .America) : 1 aIso think that the representative of Syria made a very good point. My delegation is entirely agreeable to dividing this recommendation into. separate paragraphs. 1 think it is better that way. My personal preference, however, would be to leave where it is paragraph 2 of the United Kingdom amendments which was adopted at the hundred and sixty-fourth meeting, with the modifications suggested by the representative of Colombia. In the first place, that recommends an action which on a practical basis tnight be taken at once. It is not dependenton any formaI act of any of the countries. Then, the new paragraph suggested might be put in immediately after as paragraph 3, which would be follpwed by the present paragraph 3. 1 venture to differ with the representative of Colombia as regards the order of his new suggestion and the one adopted at the hundred and sixty-four meeting, for practical reasons. The latter recommends action which can be taken at . once with a little good will and does not require any technical arrangements, whereas the new one does require certain technical preliminaries.

~ 1 shall give instructions to the Secretariat to put it in that order when the final text of the Ul1ited States resolutiop. is prepared. Mr. LÔPEZ (Colombia): In connexion with the President's remark concerning how this should be worded, 1 should remind the Secretariat that we accepted the preamble as follows: "Therefore, the Security Council, following the proposaIs made by the majority of the members Je Etats-Unis que des sécurité le suit". de etc. Royaume-Uni Secrétariat l'anglais): brève Uni voudrais tout Je reprocher de avec d'autant dans relations que certaines questions avant d'adopter du reconnaissant remarques. Je sur Royaume-Uni, recommande conclure sentant question vée a

I shou1d like to complete our discussion on paragraph 3 of the United Kingdom amendments, namely: "The Security Council recommends to the Governments concerned that they enter into frontier conventions...." The representative of the United States has accepted it. In that connexion, the question of diplomatie relations came up~ and the representative of the United States has ?lgreed to make that a separate point. , As no representative wishes to speak on paragraph 3 of the United Kingdom amendments, the discussion on this paragraph is closed. Paragraph 3 of the United Kingdom amendments has been accepted by the representative of the United States as part of his resolution. sur Royaume-Uni, clos. Royaume-Uni des résolution. amendements texte donnerai We pass now to paragraph 4 of the United Kingdom amendments. The text of this paragraph is before the Council, so 1 shall Ilot read it. Mr. LAWFoRD (United Kingdom): First, I have one small drafting point.. The first word l'anglais): should nbw read "that", and not "as", because ce the ~entence should read: "The Security Coundoit cil resolves ... that the presence...." donné

May 1 ask the representative of the United States fOf his reaction to the paragraph under discussion? Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): The United States delegation accepts this paragraph as giving in detail the recommendation of the report. Colonel HODGSON (Australia): 1 do not have with me the Australian representative on the Commission of Investigation, but 1 should like to know whether any of the other members of the Council can tell me what the Commission had in mind when it made this recommendation. Did they have in mind that these refugees should be segregatedand placed in camps immediately? Otherwise, if it is necessary to wait for the creation of sorne international body authorized by the United Nations to supervise these camps, that may weIl be like the Greek calends themselves; it may be a long time, and it may entail interminable delay. 1 am just wondering what . the Commission did have in mind, precisely, when it made that particular recommendation. . ( Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America) : 1 can give a few tentative views of the United States Government regarding the provisions of this paragraph and sorne idea at least of what we had in mind. 1 think that, in considering this paragraph, we must remeinber that the physical and political background in this area. is the basis for these recommendations. Regardless of causes or blame with respect to this condition, that part of the world ID not very well policed at present. There is no question but that refugees are passing from one side of the frontiers to the other, soine willingly and sorne against their will, , and that many of them are making trouble in the countries to which they go for the countries from which they fled. It is our view that, during this troubled period of history in that part of the world, the countries in which the refugees are situated have a moral duty to control them; and that can be done only by having the camps systematically patrolled. The refugees should not be allowed to wander at Will, to stir up disorders among other disgruntled p,eo!': and to make ~~oubl~,,~f~~_~e c~:~::_u_~armi

As no other member wishes to speak, 1 shall simply make the statement that the representative of the United States has accepted the amendment under discussion. Mr. VAN LANGENHOvE (Belgium) (translated from French): May 1 ask ho\'! paragraph 4 should be read after all these changes?

There are no amendments. There is only a small drafting change which was rnentioned by the representative of the United Kingdom-namely, to start the paragraph with the word "that", so that it will begin: "That the presence of refugees. . ." Mr. GONZÂLEZ FERNÂNDEZ (Colombia): 1 think this change is not a drafting change, but a change of substance. Mr. LAWFORD (United Kingdom): 1 am sarry; 1 said that the "as" should be replaced by the word "that", when what 1 meant was that it should be preceded by' the word "that", because we resolve: "that, as the presence of refugees in any of the four countries is a dis· turbing factor" et cetera. "

If no one else wishes to speak, 1 shall simply state that the United States representative has accepted this paragraph, and it is now part of the United States resolution. Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): It seems to me that it should not be difficult for the Secretariat to keep strictly within the letter of the Council's decision, and al. the same tÏme ta suggest the smaU formaI changes necessary to make the language logical, without having them discussed so extensively each tÏme. Certainly the text should be submitted for the approval of people who have a command of both the English and the French languages.

We pass now to paragraph 5 ~f the United Kingdom amendments. 1 should like first of ail to hear the representative of the

As no one eIse wishes to speak, 1 shall say it is accepted, and that from .now on it is part ofthe United States resolution. We have now finished dealing with the amendments presented by the repl'esentative of the United Kingdom, and have reached paragraph 3 of the United States resolution (document S/391), whichrefers to the establishment of a commission.' The representative of France has presented several amendments to this (document 8/430), and 1 shaH ask him to make what remarks he wishes on the subject. Ml'. PARODI (France) (translated trom French): 1 should like to point out that the arnendments proposed by our delegation begin , only with sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 3 of the. United States delegation's initial draft; the part which constitutes the beginning of paragraph 3 and sub-paragraph (a) of the United States resolution are not afIected by the amendments which 1 am proposing. 1. feel therefore that the normal order of the discussion would perhaps he for the Security Council to deal first with that part of the United States resolution which has not been changed. But if you prefer that 1 should speak at once on the French 8.mendments which folIow, 1 am prepared to do SQ. 1 should like to make sorne observations on sub-paragraph (a) which is not afIected by my amendment.

.As the representative of France wishes to make sorne remarks on paragraph 3(a) of the United States resolution, which refers to the composition of the proposed commiss:on, 1 shalI invite him to do so. l shall also invite other representatives who wish to speak to do so. Before 1 calI upon the representative of France, the representative of the United States has a statement to make. Ml'. JOHNSON (United St;ltes of America) : . Imerely wish to ask a question, Ml'. President. . Would it possibly be advisable, in order to expedite our consideration, to ask whether anyone has a comment to make on the preamble to paragraph 3 and then on sub-paragraph (a)? The representative of France has indicated that .he has sorne comment to make on sub-paragraph (a). We might then conclude the discussion of this paragraph by taking each part of it, whether amendments are suggested or not. The PRESIDENT ~ That is a useful suggestion, and 1 shalI therefore ask first whether there are any comments on the preamble to paragraph 3 of the United States draft resolution. MI'. JOHNSON (United States of America): 1 agree with that. 1 think we should hl:l.ve a drafting modification there to take account of the drafting changes we have already accepted.

It seems that another draftoing modification may be necessary, because the preamble to the resolution says, "The Security Council ... resolves," and then the subsequent paragraphs start with "To recommend". We have here: "The Security Counçil for the purpose of restoring..." and then ". 0 • establishes . . " a comnusslon. . . . MI'. L6PEZ (Colombia): 1 should like to suggest that the beginning of the paragraph should be worded as follows: "In order to assist the Governments of Greece on the one hand and AIbania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other, in carrying out the recommendation of this resolution, the Security Council establishes a com- . . " nnsslOn....

May 1 have 'the reaction of the representative of the United States to the last-mentioned proposaI of the representative of Colombia. MI'. JOHNSON (United States of America): 1 have no objection whatever to the language proposed by the representative of Colombia. It is perfectly consistent. 1 do not agree with bis recommendation about composition. That is another matter. The way his' draft is worded in the paper his delegation distributed, it contains that provision also. MI'. L6PEZ (Colombia): As is obvious from the wording of the two paragraphs, the commission is established for the purpose of restoring normal conditions along the frontiers, and thereby assisting in the establishment of goodneighbourly relations; but 1 would suggest that we should make it more general-in other words, the purpose should be to assist the Governments coneerned to carry out the recommendations of the resolution. That covers the whole resolution. . As regards the composition of the commission, l did not say anything on that point because 1 thought it would be proper to discuss it when We wish to have an expression of the Council's purpose in setting up this commission rather than to limit the subject to an expression of assistance to the four Govemments. Without insisting on any particular phraseology, 1 should like to have embodied in this text an expression of the purpose of the Council itselL The real thing we are seeking to do in this resolution is to assist those countries in restoring normal relations and conditions along the frontier. That is the real purpose of the Council. 1 suggest that that part of the original text should be retained.

Would the representative of the United States be willing to read a suggested text? Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America): ". . . for the purpose of restoring normal conditions along the {rontiers between those countries, and for assisting those countries-Albania, Bul- .garia and Yugoslavia on the one hand, and Greece on the other-in the establishment of good-neighbourlyrelations among themselves..." However, we think the purpose of restoring normal conditions along the frontiers ought to he stated in the text.

1 want to be sure of the text we now have before us. So far as 1 can see, it is essentially the old text. As 1 understood the representative of the United States, he read: ". . . for the purpose of restoring normal conditions along the frontiers between Greece on the one hand, and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other, and thereby assisting in the establishment of good-neighbourly relations. . ." 1 think it would be advisable for the representative of the United States to give us the text in written form. Mr. JOHNSON (United States of America) -: That is, that the idea expressed in the suggestion of the delegation of Colombia, could be inserted there, "and thereby assisting the Governments of those countries to establish good-neighbourly relations among themselves." That would embody both ideas. Mr. L6PEZ (<. .:llombia): Which ever way it reads it acceptable to my delegation. The point we were trying to make is that our briefer wording covers all the recommendations. It says, "In order to assist the Governments . . . in carrying out the recommendations of this resolution..." 'Perhaps this is a little more friendly way of wording the resolution, or perhaps ii is shading Mr. JOHNSON (United Sta' of America): The only thing I want to say is that the United States delegation has no desire in any way to make this preamble seem any less friendly than it ought to be. We simply think it is important to put in the purpose of the Council in establishing this commission.

Since there are no further comments, l shall simply state· that the representative of the United States has accepted the proposal in the form in which he read it. It will be typed and distributed in the afternoon for the h'L.'lpection of the representatives. The next point is the composition of the commission, which is paragraph 3(a) of the United ·States resolution. Mr. PARODI (France) (translated trom French): The remarks which 1 am going to make refer to the question of the composition of the commissio!l. When l presented the general view-point of the French delegatiôn, l stated how l should have liked this commission to be constituted. According to the text which we have before us, the commission would be made up of representatives from each of the States members of the Security Council. It would thus be modelled on the Commission which we establi<1hed last December, and would have eleven members, with the same balance as that of the Security Council. ·There would be an advantage, in our view, in having a smaller commission and one more neutral, if l may sa put it, in its composition. With respect to the number of members, it has already been argued that it might be preferable to have a commission of eleven members: that would permit it to sub-divide, if necessary, in order to assign different tasks among its members. We consider, on the contrary, the commissionwould gain in efficiency if it were smaller. But above aIl, l believe that it would be best for the commission to have a composition differl would remind you that the Commission of Investigation concerning Greek Frontier Incidents, on the basis of the experience which it acquired on the spot, itself proposed the creation of a small commission, or at least a commission considerably smaller than itself. Consequently, in the opinion of our own representatives who have worked on the spot, there would he an advantage in having a smaller commission. This is aIso my view: a EmaIl commission will work better. o sion were composed of countries whosegeneral political position was not directly concerned with the case, and which might give the interested parties a guarantee of complete objectivity. 1 have proposed no amendm,ent to this part of the United States resolution, because there is a choice between several different formulas with regard to the size of the commission. Only in case the Council does not accept the composition proposed in this resolution do 1 reserve the right to re-open the discussion and to propose a more exact and detailed formula. When 1 first spoke on this matter, 1 envisaged a commission of three to five members. The report itself suggested the apP0intment of a commissioner; but for reasons which 1 have already mentioned and which are based on the difficulty which we may find in choosing one man, 1 fee! that it is preferable to reject the idea of having one commissioner. But if, as 'is proposed in the document we have before us, the commission remains a commission, it might be composed of from three to five members, orand this is the opinion to which 1 might ultimately sub~cribe most willingly-of seven members, as proposed by the representative of Colombia. . By way of a tentative suggestion, .1 think this commission of seven members might be composed in the first place of the six non-permanent members of the Secnity Council, appointed not in their capacity as members of the Security Council but merely as States without reference to their status as members of the Council, so that when their term of office as members of the Security Council ends-this will apply to three of them at the end of this year-the composition of the commission will not be affected. We might further add a seventh State, Sweden, for example. 1 Qf:lieve that with a composition of this type, we should have a body both smaller in numbers and more efficient in its actiClIl} giving more guarantees to the countries concerned. 1 vénture to remind you that this is, after all, the same solution as we finallyreached in the Palestine case, in accordance with the view very generally held by our last Assembly, and pre- HUNDRED AND' SIXTY-SIXTH MEETING Held at Lake Success, New York, on Thursday, 24 fuiy 1947, at 3 p.m. President: Ml'. O. LA1'fGE (Poland). Present: The representatives of the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Poland, Syrla, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America. 245. Provisional agenda (documentsi433) 1. Adoption of the agenda. 2. The Greek question: report of the Commis- sion of Investigation concerning Greek Fron- tier Incidents to the Security Council (docu- ment S/360)1. 24~. Adoption of the agenda 247. Continuation of the discussion on the Greek question

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