Text of the Speech made by Mr. Bebler (Yugoslavia) in the Security Council Meeting No. 471 held on 12 April, 1950
Text of the Speech made by Mr. Bebler (Yugoslavia) in the Security Council Meeting No. 471 held on 12 April, 1950
At the beginning of this meeting the President, referring to the present world tension, addressed a general appeal to the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council. My delegatton feels that, in so doing, he was perfectly justified in emphasising that in the eyes of public opinion we-and I am speaking of the Council as a whole are very far from playing the part which we are called upon to play in international life that of a great artisan of peace and of international understanding. Our agenda contains a long list of questions. We do not mention them. I of course share the opinion of those who hold that failure to discuss these questions is perhaps a good omen, since it can be taken to mean that they are not "burning" questions. However, as the President pointed out, there are problems to which that optimistic view obviously cannot apply. Some of them are not taken up despite the fact that they are immediate and pressing.
The President was right in mentioning the question of the admission of new Members. Some States applied for admission to membership in the United Nations in 1946 and 1947. They have been waiting for the past three or four years. It is to be deplored that these States have not been admitted as a result of the lack of agreement on the question as to how many of them should be included in the first group of new Members to be admitted. The prestige and success of the United Nations call for an immediate solution to that problem.
Moreover, I feel that I must refer to the problems of armaments. These are particularly grave problems since the armaments race adds to international tension which in turn speeds up that race. Who, other than the Security Council, can rescue the world from this vicious circle ?
The Security Council must, of course, be in a moral position to do so. It is therefore essential that the Council itself should be able to function. Its composition should be such as to permit it to take, with authority, whatever initiative may be required.
Unfortunately, we cannot say that all is well within the Security Council. We are divided on a vital question, that of the representation of a permanent member, China. As I told the Press the other day, I consider that the time has definitely come for that question to be solved. There is, in our opinion only one possible solution, that of admitting to our table the representative of the Government of the People's Republic of China, the only Chinese Government worthy of that name. Our failure to take that decision has resulted in the absence from the Council, through no fault of its own, of one of its permanent members, a situation for which the majority of its members is to blame.
Moreover, is there still that majority of seven votes which the Charter requires for accepting the validity of the credentials of the Chinese delegate who is here at this time? I doubt that very much and I believe that the President should examine the situation and lead us to a speedy solution of that question which has remained in suspense for too long a period of time.
To avoid any misunderstanding, I wish to point out that such a decision should be taken immediately, not because of the intentional absence of another permanent member, but despite that absence. It should be taken in the interests of the United Nations; it should be taken because the Charter requires the presence of China in the Security Council; that is clearly stipulated in Article 23. It should be taken because China's absence constitutes the most flagrant violation of the principle of universality of the United Nations, since it concerns a country the population of which is larger than that of the whole of Europe or even of the two American continents combined.
In our opinion, we should deal with this question first and should devote one of our forthcoming meetings to it. This is the first task awaiting not only the permanent members of the Council but also and especially the non-permanent members, since the latter seem less divided on this point which, incidentally, is no more than a reflection of the general state of affairs in our troubled world.
This last factor is an additional reason for our attitude with regard to the part be played by large and small countries. This attitude was clearly stated by my country's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kardely, during a general debate at the last session of the General Assembly, when he said :
"We are far from under-estimating the part which the great Powers are at present playing in international life and, particularly, in the defence of peace We believe, however, that the co-operation on an equal basis of the small Powers in all efforts towards strengthening the peace is essential if the peace is to be not merely a peace for the great Powers but also one between the great's Power and the small, i.e., a peace between equal nations, a peace for all and not only a peace for the strong. and the Mighty."
For that real, just and indivisible, peace, we are prepared to do everything which is necessary. As a member of the Council, my country is prepared to cooperate in any plan and to give its support to any step directed towards that end, any step aimed at raising the prestige of the United Nations, by showing that the United Nations as an organisation, is equal to its task and that its work, its enterprises and its successes an expression of that are which is deepest and most common to all peoples: the desire for a lasting peace.