Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

CFM Files, Lot M 88, Box 159

Minutes of Meeting Between the Secretary of State and the Italian Prime Minister (De Gasperi), Department of State, September 24, 1951, 4:30 p.m.

Washington, September 24, 1951, 4:30 p.m.

secret

IPM MIN–l

[Here follow list of persons present (19) and discussion of a prior agenda item, revision of the Italian Peace Treaty.¹]

Admission of Italy Into United Nations

Ambassador Zoppi² recalled that the Prime Minister had submitted an Aide-Mémoire to the Secretary at Ottawa on the admission of Italy into the United Nations and he asked that the United States give favorable consideration to the proposals set forth in the Aide-Mémoire. The Secretary said that the United States is studying the matter and will continue to do so. However, we have grave doubts about the Italian proposals. The World Court has said that an application for membership in the United Nations cannot be voted upon by the General Assembly unless all permanent members of the Security Council have voted in the affirmative on the application. The World Court has also said that a permanent member should not veto an application for membership on extraneous grounds. If the Italian application for membership were to be reconsidered by the Security Council and the Soviet Union, without explaining its position, simply cast a negative vote, it would not have done anything contrary to the opinion of the World Court. However, if the Soviet Union explains the reason for its veto, this would be a different situation, and the Soviet government might be in trouble. The Secretary reiterated that the United States would continue to study the problem. Mr. Hickerson said that after further consideration of the Aide-Mémoire the Department would discuss it with the Italian representatives in Washington and New York, and with other friendly governments. He emphasized that the United States would do everything in its power to secure membership for Italy in the United Nations. He cautioned against expecting too much along the lines of the suggestions set forth in the Aide-Mémoire. He pointed out that Italy is in a unique position since it is the only nation whose application for membership in the United Nations has been vetoed four times and is also in a unique position since Italy, as trust administrator in Somaliland is the only non-member administering authority. The Prime Minister said that so long as Italy is not in the UN, there is an additional moral restriction upon Italy. The counterbalance to the signature of the Peace Treaty was to have been Italy’s admission to the UN. The three-power Declaration on the Peace Treaty³ is desirable and necessary, but is not sufficient in itself to correct the moral position. The Secretary said that he thought this problem would be alleviated by the support of the great majority of the nations of the world for the action to be taken on the Treaty.

[Here follows discussion of another agenda item.]

1. Lists of persons present at this and other conversations and other subjects discussed are included in documentation in volume iv. There were 9 Department of State officers present in support of the Secretary of State including the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Perkins), the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (Barrett), the Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs (Hickerson), and James C. Dunn, U.S. Ambassador to Italy.
2. Vittorio Zoppi, Secretary-General, Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
3. See editorial note, infra.