501.BC/11–2546
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Jernegan)
| Participants: | The Greek Ambassador |
| Mr. Henderson, NEA | |
| Mr. Jernegan, NE |
The Ambassador said that his Government had agreed to be guided by the Secretary’s suggestion that any Greek complaint to the UN regarding the troubles in northern Greece should be brought before the Security Council. His Government now would like the further advice of the Department as to whether the case should be brought up under Article 33 or Article 34 of the Charter.
Mr. Henderson said that the American Govt. did not want to urge any course of action upon Greece. However, we in the Department considered that Article 34, which provides that the Security Council [Page 269] “may investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction”, was the logical basis for presentation of the Greek case. He pointed out that Article 33 assumed the existence of a “dispute”, which had not yet been established in the present instance. Article 34 was broader in its scope. Furthermore, if it asked action under Article 33, Greece might be placed in an awkward position because it had not made any determined effort on its own account to enter into negotiations with its northern neighbors.
The Ambassador agreed with these remarks and said he would inform his Government that the Department thought it better to invoke Article 34 in the present instance.
Mr. Henderson emphasized the necessity for Greece to have a thoroughly prepared case before coming to the Security Council. The Ambassador expressed agreement but remarked that it would be difficult to prove many of the incidents which are the cause of the complaint. It was suggested to him that the official reports by the Greek functionaries concerned in each case, even though they might not constitute legal proof, would at least be very useful to the Council in its deliberations.