The United Nations Economic and Social Council today voted to admit Rumania into membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, but the margin by which the vote passed indicated that the application might be rejected in the UNESCO General Council, where membership applications must be accepted by two-thirds majority.
The vote on admission was ten for, seven against and one nation abstaining. Voting against were the United States, Britain, France, Turkey, China, Cuba and Ecuador. Venezuela abstained.
The American delegate, J. Hotchkiss opposed admission on the grounds that there was no reason to have confidence in Rumania’s living up to her obligation after admission into UNESCO and that the UN General Assembly had already condemned Rumania for failing to observe the human rights guarantees included in her treaties of peace with the Allies.
Mr. Hotchkiss also called the attention of the Council to a World Jewish Congress memorandum detailing persecution of Jewish communal and Zionist leaders in Rumania and insisted that these charges alone were sufficient to bar Rumania from membership. The British delegate also indicated that his vote against admission was based on Rumanian non-compliance with its treaty obligations.
The Soviet delegate, defending Rumania, said that Rumania was a democratic country in which the national minorities had all rights. He noted that Rumania had recently sent a note to Israel dealing extensively with the charges of anti-Jewish persecution.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
