Editorial Note
The Greek problem was discussed by the First Committee of the General Assembly from October 25 to November 11; see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Third Session, Part I, First Committee, pages 243–576, passim. The resolution proposed by the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom, as amended, was adopted, after a paragraph-by-paragraph vote on November 10, by a vote of 48 to 6 (ibid., page 520). It continued the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans, with both conciliatory and observational functions.
The Committee turned its attention to the Soviet resolution the same day. In paragraph-by-paragraph voting, it approved three paragraphs of the operative provisions but rejected the preamble and the remaining operative provisions. The three paragraphs were then voted on as a group and were adopted by 48 votes, with one abstention (ibid., pages 538, 539). They recommended that Greece, on the one hand, and Albania and Bulgaria, on the other, establish diplomatic relations with each other; that Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia renew previously operative conventions for the settlement of frontier questions, or conclude new ones, and that they settle the question of refugees in a spirit of mutual understanding and good-neighbor relations; and that the four governments inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the fulfillment of the two earlier recommendations at the end of six months.
The Committee, the following day, adopted a Belgian resolution, as amended, by 45 votes (ibid., page 576). The resolution recommended repatriation of Greek refugee children to Greece. All three resolutions were adopted for action by the General Assembly.
The Committee, on November 10, also adopted unanimously an Australian resolution, as amended (ibid., page 549). It called for the Committee to request the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, and the Chairman and Rapporteur of the First Committee, jointly, to convene immediately at Paris a meeting of the representatives of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia for the purpose of exploring the possibilities of composing their differences. This resolution, however, was for action by the First Committee and not by the General Assembly.
The General Assembly began consideration of the problem of threats to the political and territorial integrity of Greece on November 26 (United Nations, Official Records of the Third Session of the General Assembly, Part I, Plenary Meetings, page 609), terminating its deliberations the following day when the three resolutions proposed by the First Committee were adopted. The principal resolution, which [Page 278] continued UNSCOB, was passed by a vote of 47 to 6. The resolution calling for renewal of diplomatic relations, conclusion of frontier conventions, and settlement of the refugee problem, which had been drawn from the Soviet resolution before the First Committee, and the resolution concerning repatriation of Greek children were adopted unanimously (ibid., pages 661, 662). For the texts of these resolutions, numbered 193 (III) A, 193 (III) B and 193 (III) C, respectively, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Third Session, Part I, Resolutions, 21 September–12 December 1948, pages 18–21.
On December 31 President Truman approved the recommendation in a memorandum of the previous day by Acting Secretary of State Lovett that Gerald A. Drew be appointed United States Representative on the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (501.BB Balkan/12–3148).