50 Years Ago Today
GREECE-BELORUSSIA: Paris, 6 – Today’s dramatic contest between Greece and Belorussia for a semi-permanent seat on the UN Security Council developed into eight rounds of voting, none of which were conclusive. Neither of the two candidate countries managed to obtain the two-thirds majority required by the Charter. Greece had in its favor its struggle for freedom, and all the votes in its favor were given by the free states with a deep awareness of Greece’s sacrifices, but unfortunately these views did not prevail among all the delegations. Although Greece appeared close to winning in the first two rounds, it subsequently lost votes because, among other things, the view prevailed that a solution could eventually be found by electing Belorussia, whose supporters stood firm. It suddenly became known that France did not vote for Greece, fearing that a Greek delegate on the Security Council would be in favor of the Arabs on the Moroccan question. In addition, Great Britain, for the same reasons and perhaps to appear better affiliated with Russia, voted in favor of Belorussia. This, of course, does not undo the importance of Putin’s visit to Athens as Russia, despite the problems that it may be facing, is still the second-largest nuclear and military power after the USA, possessing high technology, rich resources, and top scientists. Above all, Russia has always been an important European power and its leverage in the international arena remains significant…
