501.BB Balkan/5–1049: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Greece
niact
us urgent
696. Dept deeply concerned at probability that Grk insistence on changing phraseology para four Evatt’s latest proposal1 will permit Evatt and northern neighbors to blame Greece with breakdown in conciliation talks. Considered opinion legal div Dept that there is no legal or linguistic distinction between “territory belonging to” and “its territory”. In English possessive can be expressed either by “its” or “belonging to it” and therefore Grks translation of either phrase shld be the same.
If Greece quibbles over this phraseology, reps Alb, Bulg and Yugo may well grow suspicious and wonder why Greece attaches such importance to substituting for phrase in question one which is identical. It would be tragic if negots break down merely because certain Grk legal advisors or members Grk Govt differ in interpretation English words involved when in fact there exists no legal or linguistic distinction between two phrases in question. Upshot might well be complete breakdown talks blame placed squarely on Greece and with some justification, in our opinion, since it would appear Greece was sticking on point with no substance. Such outcome would give credence to accusation that Greece eager seize any pretext to refuse agreement.
Foregoing already transmitted through the USDel NY to Dendramis with hope he will urgently commnunicate with Tsaldaris and [Page 316] secure authority accept Evatt proposal its entirety before next mtg with Evatt sched Wed May 11.2
- On May 5–6, U.N. General Assembly President Evatt, in his capacity as Chairman of the Conciliation Committee for the Balkans, presented a revised draft Albanian-Greek frontier agreement to the Albanian, Greek, Bulgarian, and Yugoslav Representatives. Evatt also informally gave copies of the draft agreement to American, British, French and, presumably, Soviet representatives. Regarding the text of the draft agreement, see the editorial note, p. 321.↩
- An earlier version of these instructions was
transmitted to the Embassy in Greece in telegram 684, May 9,
noon, to Athens, not printed (501.BB Balkan/5–649).
In his telegram 934, May 11, from Athens, not printed, Chargé Minor reported he discussed the Evatt conciliation proposal with Greek Permanent Under Secretary of State Pipinelis. Pipinelis stated that the Greek representatives in New York had been instructed to waive all Greek amendments to the Evatt draft agreement except that concerning the phrase “belonging to either state” which, from the Greek point of view, carried the connotation that the territories in question belonged by right and law and that such claim was recognized. (868.00/5–1149)
↩