Balkans Decision Crucial, UNO Told

Northern Advocate, 27 September 1947, Page 5

Balkans Decision Crucial, UNO Told

NEW YORK, Sept. 26. “In: the opinion of my Government the decision of the United Nations assembly in this (the Balkans) case will be crucial, both for the existence of Greece as a free and independent nation and for the United Nations itself,” said Mr Herschel Johnson (United States) at a meeting of the political committee of the Assembly yesterday. “Failure to protect one small state;” he added, “can only endanger the security of other small states. “Failure to face this issue squarely would inevitably lead to the belief that acts of this, kind would be tacitly condoned in future.” All American efforts to settle the Balkans dispiite in the Security Council had been blocked by Soviet vetoes, said Mr Johnson.

Yugoslavia and Bulgaria had increased their assistance to the Greek revolutionary guerillas since the council first considered the problem. HOSTILE, AGGRESSIVE ACT

It, was a clearly established principle of international law. that such aid was a hostile and aggressive act. Before making the foregoing. statement, Mr Johnson had moved a resolution containing the following provisions:—

(1) Finding Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia guilty of helping the Greek guerillas. ( (2) Calling upon those three countries to “cease and desist.”

(3) Calling upon the three countries as well as Greece to cooperate in set-, tling the dispute by establishing normal diplomatic relations, entering into frontier agreements, cooperating on the refugee problem, and studying for the voluntary transfer of minorities.

(4) Establishing a special United Nations committeee to “observe the compliance of the four Governments.” (5) Authorising this special committee to call a special session of the Assembly, if necessary, to help to solve the difficulties. ' COMMITTEE ADJOURNS

After Mr Johnson ha'd spoken, the political committee adjourned until today.

At an earlier stage in the meeting of the political committee, the United States, supported by Britain, demanded that Albania and Bulgarian be debarred from taking part in the committee’s debate on the Balkan’s question unless they agreed in advance to accept the decisions of the Assembly.

These two countries, as non-mem-bers of the United Nations, had applied for permission to be heard. M. Gromyko (Russia) described the United States demand as inappropriate and unnecessary. He said it indicated unwillingness to hear Albania and Bulgaria. DECISION DEFERRED Mr Hector McNeil (Britain) said it

would be “ludicrous to let a man come to court only if it suited his/conveni- • ence to obey the decision.” The committee by 38 votes to 6 accepted a United States resolution to ’defer decision on the subjec, until Albania and Bulgaria had stated whel- w , ther they would accept the Assembly’s decision whatever it was.

Only the Slav bloc voted in the negative.