Office of the Historian

501.BC Greece/4–947: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin)

restricted
Washington, April 9, 1947—4 p. m.

136. For Austin from Acheson. Department forwards following points which you may wish to include in any speech you decide to make during SC discussion of Greek case:

1.
Immediate problem before SC is proper disposition of complaint brought by Greek Government on disturbances along northern Greek border. Effective action by SC requires maximum assistance from Commission along lines urged by US.
2.
Proposed program of US aid to Greece is before Congress for decision. When such legislation is approved and agreements are reached between the US and Greece, the UN will have before it full information on the purposes of the aid program, the type of aid to be furnished and the administrative arrangements involved.
3.
The SC will also have before it shortly the report of the Commission of Investigation.
4.
With such information before it, the SC will be in position to determine, in consultation with the Greek and other governments concerned, what action the SC may take to assist Greece in its present plight, and with respect to proposed US assistance.
5.
The US rejects the charges of the Representative of the USSR1 that
(a)
the proposed United States aid program weakens the UN or is inconsistent with the purposes of the UN;
(b)
the US proposes to interfere in the internal affairs of Greece or to infringe upon the sovereignty of the Greek Government;
(c)
the proposed aid program would interfere with the work of the SC’s Commission investigating Greek border violations.
6.
The US reaffirms its previously stated view that it is of the highest importance that the UN and its related agencies should assume the principal responsibility, within its capabilities, for the long-range tasks of assistance required for the reconstruction of Greece, and that the US looks forward to the time when such burdens may be carried through the UN.
7.
The attitude of the US is further reflected in the draft legislation which is now before Congress for decision. This draft legislation contains a provision that: “If the Security Council finds (with respect to which finding the United States waives the exercise of the veto) or the General Assembly finds that action taken or assistance furnished by the United Nations make the continuance of such assistance unnecessary or undesirable.”

Acheson
  1. Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko; for his statement before the Security Council on April 7, see SC, 2nd yr., No. 33, p. 697.↩