# Why did the Soviets veto UN membership for Ireland/Portugal and other countries until **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486 "2002-10-09T05:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RobbieFal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@RobbieFal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobbieFal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/1 "2002-10-09T05:42:39Z")
1. If you check, you’d see that Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Austria and probably some other countries all got into the UN in December 1955. But, one thing I read said the Soviets vetoed membership for these four countries (and Ceylon also) I can understand why they’d veto Portugal (Salazar), Austria (WW2 stuff), Italy (ditto)… but… why Ireland? Why did the Soviets keep Ireland out of the UN for 10 years? and how did we get those countries in in 1955? Was it just luck or what? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/2 "2002-10-09T06:24:46Z")
In Ireland’s case (and I presume for the others), the stated grounds was that the USSR had no diplomatic relations with it. Basically they just wanted to prevent the inclusion of more pro-Western countries. In 1955 a package deal was struck in which Ireland and the others were permitted to join along with several Soviet satellite countries. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/3 "2002-10-09T07:37:13Z")
Portugal has also traditionally had very good relations with the UK. Ceylon presumably would have swung the UK’s way too based on colonial ties. Perhaps Austria was seen as too friendly towards the Federal Republic of Germany at the time too. ---
**Author:** ![nonsmokingmirror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@nonsmokingmirror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonsmokingmirror)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/4 "2002-10-10T21:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*In Ireland’s case (and I presume for the others), the stated grounds was that the USSR had no diplomatic relations with it. Basically they just wanted to prevent the inclusion of more pro-Western countries. In 1955 a package deal was struck in which Ireland and the others were permitted to join along with several Soviet satellite countries. \*\* It wasn’t so much that the Soviets wanted to keep ‘Western’ countries out – it was actually the Americans who wanted to keep Soviet bloc countries out, and the USSR reacted by vetoing _any_ new memberships. This caused a BIG logjam which took a while to sort out. Also, in Ireland’s case, there were difficulties caused by the dispute over Northern Ireland. For a plausible (if rather Canadian-centric) account of the whole mess, try [http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/ciw-cdm/Martin-en.asp](http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/ciw-cdm/Martin-en.asp) Or try this pro-Indian version of the same thing: [http://www.goacom.com/goatoday/97/aug/mehta.html](http://www.goacom.com/goatoday/97/aug/mehta.html) * * * > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Portugal has also traditionally had very good relations with the UK. Ceylon presumably would have swung the UK’s way too based on colonial ties. \*\* I hope you aren’t implying, Crusoe, that Ireland has just been a satellite of the UK where it comes to foreign policy generally and the UN specifically? Ireland has actually got a very creditable history in the UN, as a neutral, non-aligned country, with a particularly strong record on decolonisation (perhaps not surprising, given our own history with the UK) and peacekeeping. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/5 "2002-10-10T21:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nonsmokingmirror \* > \*\*I hope you aren’t implying, Crusoe, that Ireland has just been a satellite of the UK where it comes to foreign policy generally and the UN specifically? > > Ireland has actually got a very creditable history in the UN, as a neutral, non-aligned country, with a particularly strong record on decolonisation (perhaps not surprising, given our own history with the UK) and peacekeeping. \*\* The OP was talking about reasons for Russian vetos around 1955. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable assumption that at that time Russia would have seen Ireland as more likely to take sides with the UK than with themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-soviets-veto-un-membership-for-ireland-portugal-and-other-countries-until/131486/6 "2002-10-11T01:22:48Z")
1. At its foundation in 1945, UN membership was restricted to countries which declared war on the Axis powers. Ireland remained neutral during WWII and thus was not invited to join the UN as a founding member. 2. After WWII ended, this restriction was relaxed, and Ireland applied for membership in 1946. The mere fact that Ireland was a non-Communist democracy in western Europe **probably** would not have provoked a Soviet veto at that time. Other non-Communist countries such as India, Israel, and Indonesia did join during these years. However, Ireland had no diplomatic relations with the USSR. I’m not sure, and Irish readers can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this was in protest against Communist persecution of Catholics. In any case, this **did** provoke a Soviet veto. 1. After 1949-50, the battle lines hardened. The U.S. refused to allow Communist China to take the Chinese seat, and then the Korean War broke out. No new members from anywhere were admitted for five years. This logjam also kept out both Communist and non-Communist former Axis countries (Italy, Austria, Romania, and others). 2. After Stalin’s death, and the end of the Korean War, saner heads prevailed. As the above Canadian link discusses, Ireland finally came in as part of a package deal involving 16 countries.