Editorial Note
The United Nations General Assembly concluded its Third Session, Second Part, on May 18. The conclusion of the Assembly session also terminated the mandate of the Conciliation Committee established as a result of the November 10, 1948, resolution of the First Committee of the Assembly. On May 19, Australian External Affairs Minister Evatt, in his final action as Chairman of the Conciliation Committee, issued a statement to the press reviewing the work and accomplishments of the Committee. He found that substantial progress had been achieved although no agreement had been reached. As part of his statement, Evatt made public the text of the draft Albanian-Greek agreement which he had earlier presented to the Albanian, Greek, Bulgarian, and Yugoslav representatives (see footnote 1 to telegram 696, May 10 to Athens, page 315). Evatt’s statement, including the text of the draft Albanian-Green agreement, was circulated as U.N. Press Release BAL/480. The texts of the statement and draft agreement were subsequently included in Annex 5 to the Report of the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans, August 2, 1949; regarding that Report, see the second editorial note, page 379. The text of the draft Albanian-Greek agreement proposed by Evatt and the substance of Evatt’s May 19 statement also appear in Harry N. Howard, “Greece and Its Balkan Neighbors (1948–1949)”, Balkan Studies, Volume 7, No. 1, 1966, page 14.
Telegram 618, May 19 from New York, not printed, reported that Evatt’s May 19 statement to the press, which had been prepared just [Page 322] prior to Evatt’s departure from New York by air to London, had been intended as a joint statement by all members of the Conciliation Committee. The other members of the Committee (United Nations Secretary-General Trygve Lie, Ambassador Selim Sarper, and Ambassador Fernand van Langenhove) found the statement unacceptable. Evatt refused a proposal to meet with the Committee and redraft the statement. Instead, it was agreed that Evatt himself would issue the statement. The other members of the Conciliation Committee in particular felt that there was no factual basis for Evatt’s assertion that Albania had not actually rejected the draft Albanian-Greek agreement and that Yugoslavia and Bulgaria would approve the proposal if Albania did so. (501.BB Balkan/5–1949)
On May 19 Greek Ambassador Dendramis also met with the press and released the text of his May 11 communication to Evatt (see footnote 6 to telegram 586, May 12 from New York, page 317) together with the text of the draft Albanian-Greek agreement as slightly amended by the Greek Government. The minor drafting change proposed by the Greek Government is included in Annex 5 to the Report of the Special Committee on the Balkans, August 2, 1949, cited above.