S/PV.65 Security Council

1 propose to the Council that we follow the course of our last few preceding meetings, namely, adopt point 2 of the agenda and leave point 3 on the provisional agenda for future considerati.on. Point 2 0/ the agenda was adopted. The PRESIDENT: We have now before us point 2, the telegram from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Secretary-General. The Council has decided to invite, for participation in the discussion on this point the representatives of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist 48. Discussion of the Ukrainian complaint against Greece (continued) Mr. MANUILSKY (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated [rom Russian): The Security Council has heard two speeches by the representative of Greece and the speeches of the representatives of the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. Regarding the speech of the representative of Australia, the Ukrainian delegation wishes to make a brief observation i~ order that we should not have to return to this statement any more. The representative of Australia thought fit to deliver in a somewhat crude but not very convincing form, a lecture to the Ukrainian delegation on the obligations of a Member of the United Natigns. The delegation of the Government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic is not in any need of such presumptuous instruction. There May be various interpretations of the obligations of Members of the United Nations. If, for example, it is written in the Charter of the United Nations that the purpose of the United Nations is to promote and êncourage "respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion," and in Greece or Indonesia these rights are being violated, or in South Mrica· discriminating racial laws are passed against Hindus, then it is the duty of Members of the United Nations to draw.attention to these violations and to demand the observance of the Charter adopted by fifty-one nations. This is how the Ukrainian delegation understands its obligations to the United Nations, of which the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic is a Member. But ni the old League of Nations there was aIso another understandin~ of the role of the members of that organization. There were representatives who shut their eyes to the danger of war and tried to prove that Japan's attack on China was a local incident, that the rebellion of the reactionaries organized in Spain by fascist Germany and Italy was the internal affair of SpaL'!j that the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was a means of "preservïng peace in the West and a prudent guidance of German aggression towards the East. What results came from this understanding of the obligations of the States belonging to the League of Nations is a m2.tterof general knowledge. The generation that lived through the war of 1939-1945 weIl remembers this. And a certain number of representatives of the mediumsized and small nations did not protest against such a policy. They understood their obligations as meaning that they should be the mouthpiece of sorne great Power and at its bidding close The delegation of the Government of the Ukrainian SSR considers it necessary to remind Mr. Johnson that these prelini1inary discussions were -conductedby the Govetnment of the USSR. Thus, on 21 July 1945, the Government of the USSR submitted to the Berlin Conference of the leaders of the three .Governments a memorandum'in which the situation in Greece was characterlzed as· one in: which there was no proper lawand order, in which there was no respect for the lawsand a Teign of terror eA..,ted, directed against the.democratic elements. In September 1945 the Government of thè USSR submitted to the first session of the G:mncil of Ministers of Foreign MfairsinLondon a second memorandum on the same question, in the preamble of which was the following statement: "Reports coming from Greece show that the internaI politi:::aIsituation of the country continues to remain extremely tense and fraught with dangerous consequences both for the Greek people and for the peace and security of the countries bordering,on Greece." Finally,the question of the presence of British troops in Greece was raised at the Conference of the three Ministers in Moscow in December 1945. AlI these talks, however, producedno results; nor were there any results from the·discussion of the Greek question at the session of the Security Couneil in February 1946. AIl these facts are known to the Government of theUkrainian SSR and have fL1'!!"lly convînced it that, in view of the position adopted by the Governments concerned in the Greek question, preliminary discussions will no~ bring any results. Mter this,how is it possible to reproach the delegationof the Government of the Ukfainian SSR with something of which it is innocent? l'URSS Londres, -sans The Security Council, at its meeting of 5 Sep!ember, heard a long speech by the repre· sentative of Greece, wmch had obviously been prepared beforehand and thereforé gave no answer te)·the facts .and documents, the s.tatements of Greek politicians, which were quoted ?y~e representative.of the Ukr~inian delegation' ID bis maternent of 4 September. Stillless was an answ~r gi.ven by the repr.. esentative of the . .. . ' The representative of the United Kingdom, who voted against the admission of Albania to the United Nations, cannot pass over in silence the question whether he gives greater credence to. the statesmen and military ·leaders whose names 1 have mentioned, or to· Mr. Dendramis who asserted here that Albania is a nest of ag- . gressors who must be held responsiblie for all the devastation perpetrated by the Germans and Italian.'! in Greece. We may weil ask: are these telegrams, copies of which are in the portfolio of the Ukrainian dclegation, documents of firstrate importance or not, or are we to regard as a document the verbal· assertions of the Greek representative, supported by the production of a map, the authenticity of which nobodyhas verified and for the ~uaking ofwhich itis only netessary to have three coloured pencils and a sheet of lined paper? . Or let us take another example,·the statement of a former Minister,. Mr. Kafandaris. Mr. Kafandaris.is a man of moderate opinions. On 15 August 1946 hernade the following statement: "Are we really going towards a plebiscite, thatis, towards an expression of the people's will, or are we going towards a repetition of the mise en scène of 1935 inaccordance witha previously concerted plan, that is, towards a mere declaration, on ISeptember, of results prepared beforehand, without. any rea1 participation of the people? Unfortunately the course of events confumsthese apprehensions. In fact, how can you Spèal( of·an expression of the people's will based Now 1 ask, is a statement of this kind trustworthy, or does Mr. Kafandaris, in order that his statement May find acceptance here, have to submit a certificate from Mr. Dendramis to the ltffect that he, Mr. Kafandaris, recorded his vote in a transparent envelope in favour of the restoration of the monarchy in Greeee? We might express in advanee our gratitude ta anyone wl0 would try to argue that the Security Council and public opinion should believe nnt Mt'. Kafandaris, but rather Mr. Dendran:lis, who asserted here that there is in Greeee an ideaI constitutionaI system, in which the majority rules and the minoi'Îty controIs. However, one May ask what place is occupied in this constitutionai system by the five hundred monarchist bands, which were mentioned here by the representative of the USSR and, in particular, the Surlas band, a photograph of which was submitted to the Security Council by the Ukrainian de1egation. The Greek representative failed to explain this point and is unable to do sa, because the presence of these armed bandH shows that the minority wish ta impose their will upon the majority with the aid of these bands. It is weIl known that before seizing power in Italy or Germany the extreme reactionaries formed similar irregular bands, whose task was to get rid of the more active democratic elements by terroristic means, to exclude the democratic parties from politicaI life and to establish the domination of a reactionary clique over the vast majority of the people. These facts, supported by the lessons of history, are mare convincing than the statements of the Greek representative regarding the constitutionaI system alleged to exist in Greece. How can this constitutional system be reconciled with snch a Savage instruction as the. one, for instance, that was issued by the PrefectPella in central Macedonia, which reads as follows: "1 will put a price on the heads of those who have lef;t their homes; 1 will banish all their relatives down to the fourth generation, as.welias the members of all suspect organizations; 1 will deprive them of UNRRA supplies; 1 will confiscate their fanns and take aIl other possible measures against them." Further, how is it possible to reconcile with this idyllic constitutional systeI4 the fact that the armed bands of Zervas, the Mikhailovich of Greece, who is now a member of the Greek monarchist parliament, slaughtered 500 A1banians in the district of Paranûtkas-Phanarion in July 1944 and 700 more in August, raped 300 women, burned down the houses of the Albanians, plundered their property and drove away their cattle? Th:' is the same Zervas, who, on 5 October 1943, issued an order to bis troops to cease resisting the invaders, and on 10 October 1943 launched, with the Germans, an attack on the forces of ELAS and from then on collaborated openly with the Germans. It is impossible to expect a reasonable explanation of the contradictions in this, to say the least, strange "constitutional system" from the people who are themselves to blame for the deeds of the Zervas ba.lds on Greek territory. The Greek representative's assertion that the majority rules and the minority controIs can only compete in its unlike1ihood with his other statement that the Greek trade unions were disbanded at the request of the workers therJSelves. Mter such an explanation of the dissolution of the Greek trade unions, nobody will be surpris~-' if the Greek representative expi:ù.ns to .Jsthat in centfa! Macedoniahuman heads were cut off, farma were·confiscated .and people were deprived of UNRRA food supplies, and in the district nf Paramitkas-Phanarion, Albanians were sIaughtered because the Macedonians and Albanians themselves begged to be treated in this way. Such .derisive ~plariations· of· the disband;. ment of the trade unions are insuIting to. the Security Council. They showthat theextreme Greek monarchists have throWn away restraint to such an extent tbat they think that no matter tion au It is time to get rid of the legend of the communists as a little bunch of men who have no influence among their own people. The popular masses in aU countries scrutinized the communists in the terrible events of the war and they trust them. The commUDÏsts muster millions of votes at the polis. In many countries they are members of the government and veen the leaders of it. Among the European countries it is only in Spain, Portugal and Greece that a policy copied from the hitlerite model is bcing carried on with regard to communists. And even if we had no material whatever, even Ü we knew nothing about the political features of the aggressive Greek monarchists, the statement alone of the Greek representative would he sufficient to reveal what sort of political formation we are dealing with in Greece. Mter such a statement it will he clear why the French League of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which has behind it more than' half a century of struggle for the elenlentary frcedoms, wrltes, regarding the regime in Greece, in its appeal to the Paris Peace Conference: "Greece is a martyr who shed her blood for the cause of democracy..... Today Greece is suffering under 'the dictatorship of those who collaborated with the occupationists. The arms given in accordance with the treaty to the warriors of the resistance ~ovement are now being turned against her." The Ukrainian people, who were themselves subjected to German-fascist occupation and underwent incredible sufferings, who themselves fought at the front and in the rear againSt the hitlerite invaders, have profound respect for Greece·and the Greek people, for their patriotic EAM front and their heroic ELAS fighters, but the Ukrahûan people do not identify the Greek people with the aggressive monarchist elements who, relying on foreign troops, have made the Greek people the first victim of their policy of aggressionag.ÙDst Albaiûa. The Greek people, by their courageous part in the war, did not deperve that treatment or thepunishment to which ~ey.are being subjected. The representative of the United States of America refciTed to the fact that foreign ob- It is w~U known from civillaw that guardians are appoin\..:· ,"'l",er persons who are legally incompetent, under age or feeble-minded. The Greek people merited our recognition, and they were not in any need nor have they any need of a degrading form of foreign tutelage. The Government of the USSR refused to send its observers precisely because it regarded the establishment of such tutelage over Greece, especially in view of the presence of British troops,' as an intervention in the internaI affairs of Greece. Perhaps the Greek representative considers this state of afJ'1.irs usual, but we, the people of a Soviet counery, consider it insulting to the dignity of 3reece and the Greek people. The representative of the United Kingdom and also some of the representatives of other countries have taken the liberty to say that the representative of the Ukrainian SSR pursued propaganda aims in bis speech. The Ukrainian delegation gave facts, quoted documents, submitted arguments, but people who have neither arguments nor facts stubbornJ.y go on repeating: "This is propaganda." Groundless assertions of this kind take us back to the pre-war days when a good many people were anxious to organize a crusade against the USSR; when Lord Curzon dispatched bis ultimatums and hysterical speeches were made at the Nürnberg rallies about Soviet propaganda threatening the world. In the light of what we have experienced we now know that all this outcry served to screen the war preparations of the aggressors. We know that the fascist and semi-fascist governments of those days blamed the propaganda of the USSR for their failures. As early as 1930 Generalissimo Stalin warned that all the chatter about the propaganda of the USSR was a pretext for interventionist propaganda and that every hankrupt gover:'_~ent tried to justify its weakness or incapacity by attributing it to Soviet propaganda. It may not seem very unlike1y, but it is a fact, that the shades of Munich are rising again just as though there had not been the greatest war of all times, in which the Soviet Socialist Republics, inc1uding the Ukrainian, made such enormous sacrifices. "As a result of the German invasion", said Generalissimo Stalin, "the USSR lost about seven million people in the battles against the Germans, by .the German occupation 2Ild by yo~e, but the USSR cannot forget them.)) We have differences of opinion within the United Nations on a number of questions, but there is one great achievement which we gained in the process of war against the common foe; it is the co-operation of the great Powers as the fundamental guarantee of peace. And those who now drag out again the moth-eaten bogey of $lo-called Soviet propaganda are not worl~ing for the co-operation of the United Nations, but for the disruption of thiS co-operation. We note this fact with all the more astonishment because it is precisely in those countries whose representatives reproach the Ukrainian delegation with propaganda, that utterly' unrestrained anti-Soviet propagand~ based on the mast fantastic fabrications is being carried on. Scores of examples of this groundless anti- Soviet propaganda could be given. The Soviet Republies, for instance, wish to have on their borders not hôstile but friendly' neighbouring Stalès. This is a legitimate and comprehensible desire of any peace-Ioving State. But the propagandists of war' clamour that this is an expansionist policy of the USSR.· The Soviet Republies are striving to establish a business-like co-operation with all the United Nations, on the basis of the mutual understanding of the interests of each side and a· reasoned exchange of views between the representatives of the various countries, but meanwhile a wall of votes is being organized against the USSR and the warmongers are clamotiring that the Soviet Republics do not want to co-operate with the other United Nations. The States of eastern Europe, liberated from the hitlerite yoke,. are striving for conditions' in which they, as sovereign States, would themselves determine their economic policy and decide thcir intental and external afi'airs, and this is their lawful right, but the warmongers are clamouring that these States want to fence themselves off from other States with an iron curtain, an expression, by th way, which was fust put into circulation by Goebbels. The delegation'· of the USSR is defending point by point the five draft peace treaties.prepared by the Council of the Four Ministers, thereby setting an example of loyalty to its obligationsand its given word, while the Australian delegation submits amendments bythe dozen which compel the Peace Conference to b~gin its work all over again. But the an:ti-Soviet prQpagandists take the Australian delegation .under their protection and clamour that the delegation of the USSR: is dragging out the Peace. Con- Gre~k authorities and on Greek territory. Here, for instance, is the stateri:lent of Georgios Geotazis, a soldier of the Greek anny, who formerly took part in the activities of Zervas' band: "Mter serving with Zervas," writes this soldier, who was taken prisoner near the Albanlan vilage of Radoti, "1 joined the 581st Battalion and was sent ta the Greek-Albanian frontier. The propaganda that was dished out to us here was directed against the Albanians ••• Our orders were the following: not to leave the Albanians in peace for a single hour. Every day it was necessary to find a reason for provoking the Albanians." This is followed by an accountofhow thissoldier took part witha Greek· company.in raids on Albanian territory on 5 and 6 May. 1946. . It is said that Greeceis in astate.of·war with Albania. Who says sa? The democraticparties ln 1938-1939 Hitler accused the Government of Czechoslovakia of arranging frontier incidents in the Sudetenlalid, but the whole world knew that it was not Czechoslovak;a but the hitlerites who instigated these incidents, It was not the Mongolian People's Republic that arranged the provocation at Khalhin-GoI, but the Japanese militarists who coveted the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic. Further examples could 'be given, but enough have been quoted to convince any unbiased person where the aggressors are in this case and where are the people who are defending themselves against aggression. For the reasons that have been stated the delegation of,the Government of the Ukrainian SSR r~uests the Security Council to take measures without delay to put an end to the situation which has arisen on the Greek-Albanian border, as one that endangers peace and security and consequently falls within the scope of Articles 34 and 35 of the Charter of the United Nations. Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom): Thereis one point of procedure on which 1 want to secure the opinion of the Council. Has the Security Council the power,and does it ever exercise that power of expunging passages from the record of proceedings? 1 ask that question because the representative of the Ukraine, in a very eloquent passage in bis speech~ which we have just heard, in an attempt to discredit a statement made by the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the UlÛted Kingdom asked, rhetorically: "Was Mr. McNeil ever in Greece?" and he answered, "No". . 1 suggested a few' days ago that the reptesentative of the Ukraine was not very well informed about the affairs of Greece. 1.should have ihought aImost everybody in this toom, apart from hitnself, knew that Mr. McNeil did indeed go on a mission to Greece in November of last year. On that occasion, in Athens,he saw repiesentatives -of aIl parties and held consultations with peoples of aIl shades of opinion;' 1 thinkthe results of those consultations wereJ , 1 . think. the representative of" Greece, will agree " with me,tothe henefitof Greece.

1 do not find any statement on the subject in the rules of procedure, and 1 think it may be simpler, instead of starting a discussion as to what power we have to change this, if we approach Mr. ManuiIsky and ask bim whether he would be willingto make the changes desired by the representative of the United Kingdom. '. Mr. MANUILSKY (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) (translated trom French): 1 am ready to make an amendationif Mr. McNeil has been in Greece, but 1 should like to hear a denial, on the part of the representative of the United Kingdom, of the facts which 1 have submitted.

1 suggest that before the record is printed, it be presented both to the representative of the United. Kingdom and to the representc.~!.ve of the Ukrame for inspection, and should there be any questions on the subject, 1 am ready to offer my services to these representatives whenever they may desire them. Mr. VELLOSO (Brazil) (translated trom French): The Greek question again cames before the Security' Council after an interval of several months, in almost the same forro as that in which, it was ptesented in London at the beginning of this year. 1 listened very attentively ta the statement made by the representative of the Ukraine; 1 listened no less attentively ta the reply given by the representative of Greece and ta that of the representative of the Albanian Government. 1 have just listened to the controversial political statement which Mr. Manuilskyhas just made in our hearing. The statement of, the ,representative of the Ukraine is an indictmentof the' Greek Government and, at the same time, of the British Government, in view of the presence of British forces in Greece. With regard ta this point, that is ta say, as far as the presence of British forces in Greece is concerned, my Government has. already taken its stand in London, at the· beginning of the year, and it is therefore unnecessary for me ta state its views again. With respect, ta the GreekGovernment, we aIl know that there is a minority in Greece which is violently opposed ta it. ' It is understandable that the representativeof the Ukraine mayhave special reasons for wanting ta give this m'·,'ority bis valuable moral support. But the truth--excuse me for saying sa in such a blunt fashion-is that that is none of our business. There remains the question of the relations between Greece and her neighb6urs. That countryand Albania are accusing each other of frequent actsof violation of their respective borders. In this regard,we have before us the lists Mr. DENDRAMIS (Greece) (translated trom French): rhe representative of the Ukraine has mercly repeated,' explaining them a little more fully, the arguments he put forward during his first speech, So thatit is unnecessary for me ta repeat what 1 have already said myself. He again quoted tclegrams seht to the Albanians by distinguished statesmen and generals. 1 explained to you yesterday what was the purpose of those tclegraIDS. 1 aIso read you an extract from a letter from the Yugoslav Government admitting theI;lon-existence of any Albanian resistance movements at the end of 1942. . The representative of the Ukraine quoted the words of certain Greek statesmen, includinS the late Mr. Kafandaris. U~ortunatcly, that eminent statesman iS no longer alive; he died too soon to see how fanciful his prophecies rclating to the plebiscite would prove to be. 1 !'!1so mentioned yesterday the part played in the Greek resiStance movement by General Zervas, who was under the orders of the Allied High Command in the Middle East. His rclentlessstruggle against the Germans was considered worthy 'of the highest praise· by the Allies. With reference ta the trade union movement in Greece, 1 shall ask the Secretary-General, in order not to take up the time of the members of the Security Council, tocirculate a short memorandum containing· a full survey of the trade union question in our country. As for the bands of armed anarchist-communists, 1 have already told you where they are getting their arms from, and with whom they are collaborating.{orthe purpose ofoverthrowing the established order in Greece, reviving the horrors committed in December 1944 and, with the connivance of the enemies of my country, infringing the territorial integrity of'Greece. The representative of the Ukraine quoted certain Greek politicians.·1 will repeat their names: Messrs. Kanellopoulos, Papandreou md·Venizelos have aU.acknowledged the results-of the plebiscite. Mr. Sophoulis, onwhose views the Ukrainian repI.esentative laid so much stress, made the following statelttents in a telegram dated· 7 September: '. "SOph01.iliS, leader oFthe Liberal Party, determining this evening the attitude. ofhis Part"! towards the situation created bytheplebiscite,.s~d: 'If; whenhe returnS,the King ~.prep~ed.tQbclpthecountry to. adapt La~tly, the Ukrainian representative explained why the USSR had refused to take part in supervising the elections. 1 suppose that the reasons he gave represented his genuine opinion, but with his permission 1 should like to quote from a book written by Sydney Morrell, an American, before the question was submitted to the Security Council. The writer explains why the Communist Party was unwilling to associate itself with the supervision of the elections or to recognize the validity of the plebiscite. This is what the American said: "The present policy of the Communist Party is ta follow the line of communist parties elsewhere . . . Obviously (page 143) the Russian refusal to participate in the supervision of the Greek elections was based on a desire not to establish a precedent which would have entitled the American and British Governments to share in the supervision of the coming elections in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria." And later on, page 148: "It is part of Russian philosophy. nowadays that a free and democratic people, if allowed to vote without pressure being exerted on them in any way, will prefer a republic to a monarchy, and communism to any other social system. Any other result is impossible, in the Russian view. A plebiscite resulting in favor of a monarchy or against the extremes of communism cannot therefore truly reflect the. feelings of the people, they reason, the plebiscite must consequently have been fraudulently carried out." The meeting rose at 6.05 p.rn.