ITALY MAKES PROTEST

Chronicle (Levin), 2 August 1946, Page 5

ITALY MAKES PROTEST

Prp.R.t Assn

Peace Terms Thought Hard TALK OF tHEIR "HONOUR"

Rii Tp.J.p.nranh.

-C!nvvriaht

Received Thursday, 7 p.m. ROME, August 1. Cabinet, after a liv e hours ' examiuation of the draft peace treaty, issu.ed a comniunicpie protestiug that besidps " grievous territorial lossee" and "coudemuation to defensive impotence," Italv was to be subjected to ec.onomip clauses about which her oxiinioii wa,s uever asked. it added that the Italian delegation to the Peace Conference had lieen instructed to do its utmo^t to obtain terms ' ' enabling ltaly to participate in international reconstruction. " ' ' The yieuce terms are hard — harder than we expected. 1 full}- share the public dismay," said the Italian Prinie Minister (Siguor de Gasperi) telephoning to Signor Nenni, the Italian Foreign Minister-Designate, who is in Paris heading the unoliicial Italian Peace Conference delegation. The Italian delegation has circulated to the other delegations, a prptest against the reilection on ' ' Italian, honour ' ' in the proposed reductipn of the Italian naval strength. The xpemorandum insisted on Italv 's right* to negotiate concerning the navy without admittiug the obligatiou of surrendel*, j It was stated that tlie reductiou in the surface fleet was wrong, aud that submariues were iiulispensable for traiulug anti-subiuarine forces, wluch ltaly needed for maritime trade. " We are deeply distressed at the proposed terms of the Italian peace treaty," said a spokesman for the Italian delegation. " The draft contradicts tlie promises made to ltaly after! the Qpebec Conference, when we were tohi that the more ltaly helped the common Allied efl'ort the more consider-, ation would be sliown her in tlie j treaty," the spokesman contiiiued. j "The treaty imposes heavy exxienses on a nation with an almost ruined economy. This almost means the economic. Jiipiidation of Italv aiid is evidence that the: two inemoranda sent to the Foreign j Ministers' Conference were not evenj eonsidered. ' ' The military clauses of the Italian treaty are primarily designed to remove the danger of Italian domination of important sea routes savs the mili tary corresxiondcnt of the Daily Telegraph. The demilitarisation of Bicily, Rardinia, Pantellaria aud Lainjicnusa and the forfeiture of Cyrenaica will rendpri ltaly power less to close the Mediter-i ranean Narrows. The cession of the] Dodecanese to Greece will remove a! major obstacle to free passage throughi tlie Aegean by way of tlie straits, and; tlie forfeiture of Eritroa and Italian j Sonin li land will remove a possible' threat to free passage th rough tlie Red j Sea. The embargo on the building of j bases in (he Apuliau Peninsula and tlie] Gulf of Yeniee, and the surrendel* or j flemilitarisution of tlie Adriatie Islandsi ensures free traftie throngh the straits; of Otrnnto 1o and from Tricste.