501.AA/8–747: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Italy
1332. Following statement was made by Hayden Raynor US member in Membership Committee Security Council on August 4, and released to the press:
“The United States warmly supports the application of Italy and believes that Italy well merits admission at this time to the United Nations.
“In comparison with other ex-enemy states, Italy is in an entirely unique position. This statement is based on two major premises: first, Italy was declared to be a co-belligerent in the war against Germany in a joint statement issued to the world on October 13, 1943 by the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. You will [Page 248] note the Soviet Union was a party to this declaration. I emphasize that no other ex-enemy state was granted this status of co-belligerency.
“The second reason for the unique position of Italy is the fact that it is to all intents and purposes not restricted whatsoever as to sovereignty. The Allied Commission was terminated on January 31, 1947. I should add that this termination was approved by the Soviet Union as well as by the other powers. At the time the statement was made that the need for the Allied Commission—which in paraphrase means the need for control—no longer existed.
“The situation today is that all Allied control over Italy has been relinquished with the exception of Venezia Giulia and Udine. In those areas there is still a small military occupation force of British and American troops. This should be considered, however, only as a token occupation. They are situated on the northeast frontier of Italy for the purpose of insuring a peaceful solution to the boundary problem existing in that area. They are not there for the purpose of controlling Italy. A corollary of what I have said is that military government has been entirely withdrawn from Italy except for the areas cited and for small administrative forces necessary for its support.
“The next point I would like to make is that the Italian peace treaty has been ratified by all of the Great Powers whose ratification is necessary to bring it into force except for the Soviet Union. It has also been ratified by a substantial vote of the Italian Parliament. It would be patently unjust—in fact a travesty on justice—to deny to the Italian people, who have done so much since becoming a co-belligerent both to assist the Allies and to develop their democratic processes of government, membership in the United Nations simply because the peace treaty has not been ratified by one Great Power. Italy made a splendid record in her period of co-belligerency. She has established democracy within her own borders. She has shown faithful respect for the obligations assumed under the treaty of peace, and she has shown a willingness to collaborate with the United Nations in all international contacts and with the specialized agencies which she has already joined. In the opinion of my Government, Italy’s goodwill and her eligibility for membership in the United Nations are beyond question. I urge most strongly that this Committee recommend to the Security Council her admission to the United Nations.”1
- See United Nations, Official Records of the Security Council, Second Year, Special Supplement No. 3, Report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members, p. 45, appendix 9. The United States also submitted to the Membership Committee statements regarding Albania, Hungary, Austria, Romania, and Bulgaria; see Ibid., appendices 3, 8, 11, 12, and 13, respectively. Further, the United States made a general statement regarding the admission of ex-enemy states and Austria, Ibid., appendix 7; and general remarks about Eire and Portugal, Ibid., pp. 15–16 and 16–17.↩