11

V. FIRST COMMITTEE: POLITICAL AND SECURITY QUESTIONS Chairman: Mr J. Bech (Luxembourg) Vice-Chairman : Mr A. Costa du Rels (Bolivia) Kapporteur: Mr H. Kauffmann {Denmark) New Zealand £Representatives Sir Carl Berendsen Mr J. V. Wilson Mr C. Craw Miss I. P. Coates 1. Threats to the Territorial Integrity and Political Independence of Greece This question was included on the agenda of the General Assembly at the request of the United States. The matter had been before the Security Council since December, 1946, when Greece brought a complaint before the Council that her northern neighbours, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria, had been giving aid and assistance to Greek guerrilla forces who were attempting to overthrow the Greek Government. The Security Council despatched a Commission of Investigation to Greece, which decided by a substantial majority that the Greek complaint had been justified. After the departure of the Commission a " subsidiary group " of the Commission was left in Greece which, although denied assistance or co-operation from the Yugoslav, Albanian, and Bulgarian Governments, found evidence of continued assistance to the guerrillas by nationals of those countries. In the meantime, the Security Council was unable to take any action owing to the repeated exercise of the right of veto by the Soviet Union, which had not subscribed to the majority conclusions of the Investigating Commission's report. Finally, when a resolution asking the General Assembly to recommend action was vetoed, the Council removed the item from its agenda. The effect of this decision, which was of a " procedural" nature and therefore not subject to the veto, was to dissolve the subsidiary group, but at the same time to enable the matter to be brought before the General Assembly. The First Committee, to which the Greek question was in due course referred by the General Assembly, had before it a resolution submitted by the United States whereby the Assembly was asked to