ANGLO-SOVIET PACT OF ALLIANCE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5315, 30 January 1947, Page 7

ANGLO-SOVIET PACT OF ALLIANCE

♦ BRITISH DECLARATION ERROR OF IN TERPiRETATION BY PRAVADA CGRRECTED. The- statement by the United Kingdom Government's attitude on the Anglo-iSoviet treaty of alliance, hand'ed by His Majesty's Am'bassador to M. Molotov on January 18 for communication to M. Stalin, makes perfectly clear that firstly the United Kingdom Government considers the treaty to be in full force and certainly not superseded by the United Nations Oiganisation. Secondly, the United Kingdom Government remains desirous to extend the term of the treaty from ,20 to 50 years. The United' Kingdom Government's state.ment was prompted by the Pravda article of January 15, insiniuating that one sentence of Mr. Bevin's hroadcast of December 22 was tantamount to renunciation of the AngloSoviet treaty. In view of the special position of Pravda as the principal organ of the Russian Gommunist Party, and the fundamental importance of the question 'raised by Pravda, the United Kingdom Government decided1 that the matter co>uld not be allowed to pass without ' a formal refutation of Pravda's error of interpretation and a solemn reassurance of British fidelity to the Anglo-Soviet alliance. To ensure that no possible doubt regarding this basic principle of British policy could be entertained in governing circles in Russia, the United! Kingdom Government considered that its statement should be oommunicated to M. Stalin personally.

World -Wide Declaration. , In order that Britain's staunch adherence to the Anglo-Soviet alliance should be known throughout the world, the United Kingdom Government issued a statement for publication in the Press. The constant desire of the British Government and people to cooperate with the Russian Government and people to preserve peace and aid economic reconstruction is thus again placed on public record. The proposed Anglo-French treaty of alliance, which the United Kingdom Government agreed with M. Blum should be negotiated as soon as possible, is to have the Anglo-Soviet and Franco-Soviet treaties as a model, and is designed to form the third side of an equilateral triangle of whicfi those two treaties are the other sides This fact affords further convincing proof, -if such were necessary, that the Anglo-Soviet Treaty is a living reality to the United Kingdom Government. The following is the text of the United Kingdom Governihent's statement, which was accompanied by a full translation of Mr. Bevin's hroadcast' of December 22. "His Majesty's Government was surprised at the suggestion, which was elaborated in the most misleading manner by Pravda in an article of January 15, that the Anglo-Soviet treaty of alliance and post-war collahoration might be regarded in London as superseded- by the United iNations Organisation.

"The Foreign Secretary, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, has several times urged an extension of the treaty, and expressed regret that His Majesty's Government's proposals to this effect have not found acceptance by the Soviet Government. His Majesty's Government's attitude has never changed and it has never occurred to it to consider that the treaty could have been superseded or suspended. Article 4 hinds both countries to come to each other's assistance in the event of renewed aggression by Germany, and the text states that this article is to remain in force until both parties agree to supesede it. Sil'percession Not Justified. "The fact that both Governments wish to make the United Nations Organisation into an effeetive buttress of international security does not mean that the treaty lapses merely because the United Nations has o'ornle into( .betjng^ Moreover, noi security agreements have yet been adopted under Article 43 of the Charter, such as could possibly be held to justify its supersession. "Pravda also quoted Mr. Bevin's broadcast of December 22 as evidence . that in his view the alliance was dead. There is no question of this. The broadcast was intended to show that Britain's foreign policy was not aligned in an anti-iSoviet direction, but on the contrary favoured co-operation among all the United Nations, and espeeial'ly with Soviet Russia and the United States, with the object of preserving peace and aiding reconstruction. Mr. Bevin's worids that Great Britain 'does not tie herself to anybody except in regard to her obligations under the Gharter' were quoted by Pravda out of their context, for he had just explained that he was answering the allegations that British relations with Soviet Russia were not so close as they should he, and.he went on to express His Majesty's Government's great desire for complete understanding and. its readiness to co-operate with the Scviet Union. The logical conclusion of Pravda's interpretation of Mr. Bevin's remdrks would be that all treaties and agreements between states are automatically superseded by the existence of the United Nations Organisation, which would obviously be absurd."