GREECE1

137. CONSIDERATION OF GREEK PROBLEM BY THE SECURITY COUNCIL DURING THE YEAR 1946

(a) Summary Statement of U. S. Position in the Security Council on the Greek Case 2

CASE BROUGHT BY THE U. S. S. R.

The first Greek case was brought to the Security Council's attention on January 21, 1946 by a letter from the chairman of the Soviet Delegation to the General Assembly, in which it was charged that the presence of British troops in Greece constituted interference with that country's internal affairs and contributed to tension fraught with grave consequences to the maintenance of international peace.

The United States Representative stated that he did not believe that the presence of British troops in Greece could be regarded as constituting a situation likely to endanger international peace and security within the meaning of the Charter; accordingly the United States felt that without such a finding the Security Council was without Charter authority to recommend procedures or methods of adjustment. The Council finally accepted a proposal, originally put forward by the United States Representative, that its president should read a statement affirming that the Council had taken note of the statements made during the discussion and that the matter should be considered closed.

CASE BROUGHT BY THE UKRAINIAN S. S. R.

On August 24, 1946 the Ukrainian S. S. R. complained of internal conditions in Greece and incidents along the Greek-Albanian frontier, allegedly provoked by Greek armed forces. After full discussion in the Council the United States Representative proposed that the Security Council establish a commission to investigate the facts relating to border incidents along the whole northern frontier of Greece, with authority to call upon Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Yugoslavia for information.

This resolution received eight affirmative votes but failed of adoption because of the negative vote of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Accordingly, the Council took no action at the time.

(b) Resolution on the Greek Question, Establishing a Commission of Investigation, December 16, 1946 3

WHEREAS, there have been presented to the Security Council oral and written statements by the Greek, Yugoslav, Albanian and Bulgarian Governments relating to disturbed conditions in northern

1 Material relating to aid for Greece and Turkey will be found in Part VIII, Current International Issues. 1 The United States and the United Nations: Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1946, Department of State Publication 2735, the United States and the United Nations Report Series 7, pp. 35-36. A comprehensive summary of the Greek situation may be found in Greece and the United Nations, 19461949, Department of State publication 3645, released October 1949.

UN Doc. S/339, May 2, 1947. Republication of S/P. V. 87/Annex B. The United Nations and the Problem of Greece, Department of State publication 2909, Near Eastern Series 9, p. 51.

Greece along the frontier between Greece on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other, which conditions, in the opinion of the Council, should be investigated before the Council attempts to reach any conclusions regarding the issues involved. Resolves:

That the Security Council under Article 34 of the Charter establish a Commission of Investigation to ascertain the facts relating to the alleged border violations along the frontier between Greece on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the other.

That the Commission be composed of a representative of each of the members of the Security Council as it will be constituted in 1947. That the Commission shall proceed to the area not later than 15 January 1947, and shall submit to the Security Council at the earliest possible date a report of the facts disclosed by its investigation. The Commission shall, if it deems it advisable or if requested by the Security Council, make preliminary reports to the Security Council.

That the Commission shall have authority to conduct its investigation in northern Greece and in such places in other parts of Greece, in Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia as the Commission considers should be included in its investigation in order to elucidate the causes and nature of the above-mentioned border violations and disturbances. That the Commission shall have authority to call upon the Governments, officials and nationals of those countries, as well as such other sources as the Commission deems necessary, for information relevant to its investigation.

That the Security Council request the Secretary-General to communicate with the appropriate authorities of the countries named above in order to facilitate the Commission's investigation in those countries.

That each representative on the Commission be entitled to select the personnel necessary to assist him and that, in addition, the Security Council request the Secretary-General to provide such staff and assistance to the Commission as it deems necessary for the prompt and effective fulfillment of its task.

That a representative of each of the Governments of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia be invited to assist in the work of the Commission in a liaison capacity.

That the Commission be invited to make any proposals that it may deem wise for averting a repetition of border violations and disturbances in these areas.

138. REPORT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL BY THE COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION CONCERNING GREEK FRONTIER INCIDENTS, MAY 27, 1947 (EXCERPTS) 1

(a) Part III: Conclusions

SECTION A

ALBANIA, BULGARIA AND YUGOSLAVIA AND THE GUERILLAS IN GREECE

1. Introduction

The charge by the Greek Government that its northern neighbours were supporting the guerilla warfare in Greece was directed jointly

UN Doc. S/360, May 27, 1947. Vol. I, Part III, chap. 1, pp. 167-182. Department of State Bulletin of July 6, 1947, pp. 18-24.

against Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The evidence submitted, however, related primarily to Yugoslavia intervention in this regard, and only to a lesser degree to that of Albania and Bulgaria. Although the Liaison Representatives repeatedly denied these charges, and attacked the credibility of the witnesses who testified in their support, little direct evidence was brought forward to disprove them. On the basis of the facts ascertained by the Commission, it is its conclusion that Yugoslavia, and to a lesser extent, Albania, and Bulgaria, have supported the guerilla warfare in Greece.

2. Yugoslavia

a. The Commission heard a considerable amount of evidence by direct testimony and by deposition that assistance had been rendered in Yugoslavia to the guerillas, taking the form of training refugees from Greece within the borders of Yugoslavia, recruiting and dispatching them to Greece for action with the guerillas' units there, as well as supplying them for this purpose with arms, supplies, transport, guides, hospitalization, etc., and providing an avenue of escape for guerillas fleeing from Greek Government forces.

b. The Commission heard the testimony of several witnesses that in the spring of 1946 a special course for guerilla leaders was established in the refugee camp at Bulkes in Yugoslavia, which was designed to give theoretical and practical training to refugees from Greece in guerilla warfare. There was presented to the Commission a copy of a military manual for training in guerilla tactics and several witnesses testified that it was used as the text book in the Bulkes school. Indeed, one witness, a Greek refugee, testified that he was one of the authors of the manual when it was written in the summer of 1945. The evidence indicated that during the spring and at least through the summer of 1946 actual training in partisan warfare was given to selected personnel among the refugees at the Bulkes camp. Furthermore, the Commission heard evidence which demonstrated that at least some of the refugees who had received military training returned to Greece and participated in the operations of the guerilla bands. Certain witnesses testified that they had served in the Yugoslav Army and had later been released so that they might return to Greece and join the guerillas.

c. The Commission was provided with considerable evidence indicating that preparatory to returning to Greece, Greek refugees at the Bulkes camp and in other places in Yugoslavia were provided with arms and other military supplies, clothing and food. Other refugees testifying before the Commission stated that in crossing the frontier to or from Greece, transportation was provided them in Yugoslavia, that they were conducted by Yugoslav guides, including Yugoslav soldiers, and that they were provided with a network of liaison agents who facilitated the crossings. According to the evidence Yugoslav frontier guards permitted guerilla bands to escape into Yugoslavia when pursued by the Greek army. This was clearly demonstrated to the Commission by its investigation of the incidents. at Sourmena and Idhomeni.

d. In addition, the evidence showed that as part of the pattern of assistance to the guerilla movement, arrangements were made for the

transportation of guerillas wounded in Greece into Yugoslavia where hospitalization was provided. Three witnesses testified that they themselves had transported wounded guerillas on donkeys to or across the Yugoslav border.

e. At the time of its visit to the camp at Bulkes on April 2, 1947, the Commission was unable to find evidence of military activities or of the military training which had theretofore been carried on.

f. There is no doubt, however, that at the Bulkes camp the refugees from Greece were subjected to political indoctrination and propaganda looking toward the overthrow of the Greek Government. Witnesses uniformly testified that on March 25, 1946, Greece's Independence Day, the leader of the Greek Communist Party, Zachariades, visited the camp at Bulkes and made a speech urging the refugees to prepare themselves to return to Greece "when the Greek people will need them." The evidence also indicated that the refugees at Bulkes heard similar propaganda from other official personnel, including the Yugoslav Minister of Education for Viovodina, and a Bulgarian Commission of several officers, who paid visits to the camp. While at Bulkes Novi Sad, Djevdjelija and Strumitsa, the Commission witnessed political demonstrations antagonistic to the present Greek Government, which indicated that political activity among the refugees continued to be sanctioned.

3. Albania

a) In the case of Albania, evidence presented to the Commission indicated that at Rubig, a village about 50 miles north of Pirana, a camp for Greek refugees had been in existence from the Spring of 1945 to October 1945. During that period the refugees there received political instruction as well as practical and theoretical military training. A military training manual, written in Greek at Rubig, similar to the one used at Bulkes, was presented in evidence to the Commission. Moreover, the Commission heard testimony that one manual, which was published in Albania, was mimeographed on paper furnished by the Albanian Press Ministry.

b) Witnesses testified before the Commission that after the Varkiza Agreement of February 12, 1945, former members of ELAS (the military arm of EAM) were advised by KKE (the Communist Party of Greece) or their ELAS comrades, to cross into Albania, as well as into Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, to avoid persecution. The evidence indicated that officers of the KKE made arrangements with Albanian security authorities for the reception, transportation, feeding and housing of refugees. Witnesses testified that before returning to Greece they were supplied in Albania with food, clothing, military equipment and transportation to the border. Evidence was also brought forward that refugees were given assistance by Albanian military personnel in their efforts to cross the frontier between Greece and Albania.

c) The evidence presented to the Commission indicated that there was no military or other training of Greek refugees in Albania after October 1945 when the refugees in the camp at Rubig were transferred to Bulkes in Yugoslavia. However, the evidence indicated that as late as November 1946 Albanian assistance to the Greek guerrillas continued in the form of providing arms and ammunition, as well as making available routes of entry, guides and liaison assistance

for guerrilla groups returning to Greece from both Albania and Yugoslavia.

4. Bulgaria

a) The evidence submitted to the Commission regarding Bulgarian aid to the Greek guerrilla movement indicated that Greek guerrillas, in groups and individually were assisted in crossing Bulgarian territory from Yugoslavia to Greece, and that sizeable Greek guerrilla groups had on a number of occasions taken refuge on Bulgarian soil, with the assistance of Bulgarian authorities. Evidence was also presented to show that, in certain instances, Greek guerrillas were given arms in or near Sofia while on their way to Greece from Yugoslavia, and that hospital facilities were offered to Greek guerrillas who were transferred for this purpose to Bulgarian territory.

b) The Commission feels that the weight of the evidence indicates that aid was provided the Greek guerrillas by the Bulgarian Government in the form of assistance in entering and leaving Bulgarian territory, provision of transportation for guerrillas crossing Bulgaria to and from Yugoslavia, and hospitalization of guerrillas wounded in Greece. Less evidence was provided the Commission, however, as to the arming and equipping of guerrillas.

SECTION B

MOVEMENT TO DETACH MACEDONIA FROM GREECE

5. a) The Greek government charged that support was being given by the Yugoslav and Bulgarian Government, through propaganda and otherwise, looking towards the detachment of the province of Macedonia from Greece and its incorporation together with Bulgarian and Yugoslavian Macedonia into the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

b) Evidence was introduced in the Commission, consisting of these quotations from speeches by responsible Yugoslav and Bulgarian statesmen and from the government-controlled press, which indicated that these governments adopted a policy of support for a separate Macedonian state within the Yugoslav federation, and exploited the aspirations of Slavo-Macedonians in Greece for an autonomous Macedonia. This exploitation had the natural consequence of fomenting dissatisfaction and disturbances among the Slavo-Macedonians.

c) In addition, the Commission heard witnesses who testified that there was in Yugoslavia an organization known as NOF (National Liberation Front), one of whose objects was to detach Greek Macedonia from Greece and to incorporate it into the federation of Yugoslavia. These witnesses testified that the activities of NOF were directed from its headquarters in Skoplje and during its most active phase through a special "Aegean Bureau" in Bitolj (Monastir). The program of NOF included propaganda supporting the Macedonian

movement.

d) In explanation of the organization called NOF, it was stated that it was in fact no more than the name of the Greek EAM in Slavic translation. Both the Yugoslav and Bulgarian Representatives denied, however, that NOF was engaged in activities of the type described in the Greek charge. Although certain witnesses testified to the Commission that they had not heard of this aspect of the functions