Cablegram 447 CANBERRA, 8 August 1947, 12.20 p.m.
MOST IMMEDIATE SECRET
My telegram 442. Admission of ex-enemy countries.
Following are our views on applications of Italy, Hungary, Roumania and Austria:
Italy
Italy has ratified treaty and may be regarded as satisfying criteria of Article 4. [1] We support provisional acceptance of application, but any statement made should not appear to give unreserved support to Italian Government as at present constituted.
Hungary
We support provisional acceptance of application, conditional on entry into force of treaty and ratification by Hungary.
Roumania
In view of repeated violations of Article 3 [2] of treaty which cause doubt as to intentions of Roumanian Government to respect fundamental Human Rights in accordance with obligations undertaken in treaty, Roumanian application should be opposed.
Austria
Although peace treaty has not yet been concluded, it will be grave injustice if it is not completed in very near future. As Austria complies in other respects with conditions of membership, provisional acceptance of application should be supported.
2. In the event of applications by Finland and Bulgaria, our views are:
Finland
Finland was first ex-enemy to ratify treaty, and has good record of respect for international undertakings. We support provisional acceptance.
Bulgaria
Provisional acceptance opposed on ground that Bulgaria has not fulfilled Article 2 of treaty [3], has appeared to refuse to co- operate with United Nations Balkan Sub-Commission and has thereby caused doubts as to whether it is a ‘peace-loving’ Government within meaning of Article 4.
3. Should our proposal on provisional acceptance not win support, you should, in the event of a vote, oppose the applications of Roumania and Bulgaria, and abstain in the case of Italy, Hungary, Austria and Finland. In case of last four countries, you should make it clear that failure to support is merely due to technical point that treaties are not yet in force, and not due to any failure on their part to fulfil general conditions of membership.
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1 Article 4 of the UN Charter allowed membership to all ‘peace- loving states which accept the obligations contained in the …
Charter…’ 2 Article 3 of the Roumanian Peace Treaty of 10 February, 1947, listed various human rights to be respected by Roumania.
3 Respect for human rights was enshrined in Article 2 of the Bulgarian Peace Treaty of 10 February, 1947.
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[AA : A1838, 854/10/14, ii]