The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, April, 13, 1916. ROUMANIAN OPINION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1535, 13 April 1916, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, April, 13, 1916. ROUMANIAN OPINION.

The attitude of Rouraania is greatly exercising the diplomatic representatives of the Central Powers. According to reports published in the European press, events at Salonika are being followed with much greater interest in Roumania than the fighting on the Bukovina frontier, in spite of the adjacent position of the latter, for, naturally, Roumania considers herself first of all a Balkan State, and all her interests are bound up with her position among the other States of the peninsula. It is stated by all Hungarian correspondents in Bucharest, and by those diplomats who have been in the Roumanian capital lately that the landing of the allied troops at Salonika and the fact that the Entente Powers appear to be about to embark on serious operations in the Balkans, have had considerable effect on Roumanian public opinion. It was noted during the early stages of the offensive against Servia that the pro-Russian feeling in Roumania declined to a certain extent, and the friends of the Entente Powers became less active, bnt ’at present the proRussians are again in the ascendant. Everything that is going on round Salonika is being followed most keenly by the Roumanian Government and people, and ever since the lull on the Macedonian frontier the people in Bucharest are again full of confidence in the final success of the Entente Powers. The brother of M. Bratiano, the Roumanian Prime Minister, who is also the most intimate political friend and collaborator of the Prime Minister, is quoted as saying that, should the Entente Powers evacuate Salonika. it would not only mean suicide for themselves, bnt would also constitute a great blow to Roumania. He also said that by the spring it woidd be clearly seen whether the Entente Powers had done a sensible thing by establishing a firm hold on the Balkans. The Liberal politicians in Bucharest infer from this statement of M. V. Bratiano that Roumania will emerge from her neutrality in the spring , and take part in the war on the side of the Entente Powers.