501.AA/4–2946
Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the Departmental Team on Admission of New Members to the United Nations, Department of State, Washington, April 29, 1946
[Here follows list of names of persons present (8), the same as at the April 9 meeting, page 371.]
1. The Present Status:
Miss Fosdick opened the meeting with a description of the situation as it now exists in New York. She reported that there had been some feeling that the Secretary-General might put the Albanian question on the provisional agenda of the Security Council in the next few days. It was ascertained through Mr. Saba of Egypt,59 however, that President Afifi60 was disinclined to put the matter on the provisional [Page 380] agenda until the Committee of Experts had considered Rules of Procedure on the general subject of membership. Mr. Johnson, in New York, now believes that the Albanian question will not be placed on the agenda before the end of this week and possibly not until later.
With regard to our conversations with the British, Cadogan has evidently approved the method of procedure suggested in the Department’s Instruction of April 17 and is communicating with London in this connection. Mr. Johnson is to discuss the matter today with the other members of the Security Council who supported our position on Albania at the London meetings.
2. Question of Supplementary Instruction for Delegation:
The question was then raised whether we should move immediately to present our resolution or wait until the Albanian question should arise. The decision on this point was that, if there was no additional information from New York today, we should prepare a telegraphic draft instruction tomorrow for clearance in the Department. The instruction would authorize the U.S. Representative to communicate our resolution to the Secretary-General for inclusion on the provisional agenda, provided the Representative feels that there is sufficient support to assure a favorable reception for it. The instruction further expresses the hope that the resolution can be introduced in the Security Council before our proposed Rules of Procedure on membership go to the Committee of Experts, although the Delegation would be authorized to introduce these Rules of Procedure at its discretion.61
3. Draft Statement for Mr. Stettinius:
The Team then considered a draft statement which might be used by Mr. Stettinius in introducing our resolution on admission. The statement was approved in principle, after one change had been made, and members of the Team agreed to communicate to Mr. Popper any detailed changes they might later wish to suggest.62
4. Survey of Situation by Countries:
A consideration of the timing factors involved in the problem of admission then ensued. Mr. Raynor expressed the opinion that the applications of Iceland and Sweden would be ready by August, but he was not so certain regarding those of Portugal, Switzerland, and Eire. Mr. Satterthwaite felt that the Afghans would probably be ready to apply whenever we informed them that the way was cleared to go [Page 381] ahead. There was, however, some slight possibility that Soviet pressure might restrain the Afghans. Mr. Landon stated that the French terms for a treaty of peace with Siam generally followed those of the British-Siamese Agreement, with the addition of the border settlement provisions. Mr. Raynor noted that talks with individual countries had been deferred pending the introduction of our resolution in the Council. He stated that we hoped to push the applications of Italy and Austria, perhaps even before the signing of an Italian peace treaty.
In reviewing the status of other eligible countries, Mr. Satterthwaite pointed out that it was premature to present applications for Yemen, Burma, or Nepal, while the case of Transjordan is so complex that some time will be necessary before the application stage can be reached. It was decided to have a paper prepared on Outer Mongolia for the Book being prepared for the Delegation. Mr. Raynor stated that the Department’s attitude on this point was that we would accept the Mongolian application if it were pressed by another state.
The Team felt that the Department’s policy on the admission of additional Soviet Republics is and will remain one of unalterable opposition.
- Mr. Saba was serving as Chairman of the Committee of Experts at this time.↩
- Haraz Afifi of Egypt, at this time President of the Security Council.↩
- See telegram 38, April 30, 7 p.m., to New York, infra.↩
- The draft statement was forwarded to New York in telegram 48, May 6, 8 p.m. (501.BC/5–646), but is not printed as the United States Representative (Stettinius) followed it quite closely when he made his opening statement on the proposed resolution to the Security Council on May 17; see United Nations, Official Records of the Security Council, First Year, First Series, No. 2, pp. 278–280; hereafter cited as SC, 1st yr., 1st series, No. 2.↩