In the Balkans

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 74, 26 November 1915, Page 5

In the Balkans

REPLY TO THE ENTENTE. DEMANDS ACCEDED TO. ESSENTIAL GUARANTEE GIVEN. Unttbd Press Association. .(Received 12.35 p.m.) London, November 25. . ■ The Greek Government has delivered its reply to the Entente's Note, and has acceded to the demands, also giving an essential guarantee.

OFFICIAL CONFBHMATOM. GREECE CORDIALLY AGREES. (Received 8.50 a.m.) Athens, November 25. Official—Greece has cordially agreed to meet the demands of the Allies. STRAIGHT FROM ATHENS. OPINIONS QE CABINET MEMBERS KING CONSTANTINE NOT UNFRIENDLY TO ENGLAND. United Pbebs Association. (Received 2.25 a.m.)' London, Noveml>ere 25. M Staoredi, Greek Consul-General, has returned to London from Athens. On being interviewed, he remarked: "Several members of the Greek Cabinet told me the Greeks were bound to pome in with the Allies, if only sufficient Allied" troops were available on the spot. "King Constantino's w ' s b to see i Kitchener was entirely spontaneous, saying, 'I am not much of a diplomatist; I am a soldier, and to talk matters over with another soldier like Kitchener will help matters.' I "It is a mistake, continued, the Consul-General, to think King Constantine is unfriendly to England. He' was most anxious to see Kitchener." GERMANS CLAIM CAPTURES. 17,000 MEN : : 25 CUNS. (Received 9.50 a.m.) Amsterdam, November 25.

A German communique states: We captured ten thousand Servians and nineteen gun s near Mitrovitza, and seven thousand four hundred men and six guns were taken near Prishtina. IF ROUMANIA FIGHTS. RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE FOR BALKANS. (Received 9.50 a.m.) Paris, November 25. The Petit Journal's Bucharest correspondent states that it i s reported that a strong Russian army is at the gates of Roumania, ready to help if Roumania' comes into the war. , JAPAN'S FART, j \*[ HEAVY GUNS AT ODESSA. (Received 9.50 a.m.) . Copenhagen, November 25; y German newspapers state that a large consignment of. heavy Japanese' gun s is arriving at Odessa. SUMMARILY REJECTED. PEACE PROPOSALS TURNED DOWN. MACKENSEN AND SERBIA'S CROWN PRINCE. (Received 12.35 ap.m.)? U ' 1 * . Vliondon,' November' 25. Th e Daily Telegraphls correspondent at Salonika confirms the statement that. General von Mackensen recently despatched an envoy to the Serbian Crown Prince at Prizrend offering an armistice with a view to peace negoiaions, Serbia to cede to Bulgaria, the north-eastern corner of Serbia, also Serbian Macedonia. The Crown Prince summarily rejected the proposal.

MORE ENEMY BOMBAST. HOW WE DID IT—WHAT WE WILL DO! (Received 12.35 p.m.) Amsterdam, November 25. General BodjadfefT, interviewed by Tageblatfc, declares: Only AustroGerman troops will be occupying Serbia in a month's time. The Bulgarians will turn southward in a fortnight.. The rapidity with which we reduced 300,000 of the Serbian army to less than half gives an indication of how we will speedily finish the 100,000 of the Entente army from Salonika.

GREECE AND THE ALLIES. London, Novmbr 25. Reuter's Athens correspondent states that the* Government's written reply to the Entente's Note accepts the demands regarding the disarming of the Allied forces and their liberty of action in Greek territory, with a view to their security, and also railway and telegraphic facilities, but makes reserves concerning further examination of certain details. The declaration that the parts of Greece occupied by the Allies will be restituted in due course, and any justifiable demand for indemnities will be paid, has favorably impressed the Government regarding the Entente's friendly disposition. Greek steamers detained at Malta have been released. The Daily Telegraph's Pari s correspondent states that telegrams from Athens states that the Greek Government has unconditionally consented to continue to grant all facilities at Salonika to the Allies. In the event of the Allies retiring to Greek territory Greece will withdraw her troops from the regions which the Allies may occupy. The War Office says that at Salonika the future of the Allied forces is obscure. They are awaiting Lord I Kitchener's tour to clear up uncertainties. They were landed under a misappresension, which it is important to remember. Greece requested certain forces to co-operate with her troops, and the French were landing j at Salonika when M, Venlzelos was

forced to resign and Greece abandoned her promises. With two hundred ! thousand Greeks we could have defeatJed the Bulgarians whilst the Serbs Iheld back the Germans; but the objectives to rescue the Serbs and pievent the Germans linking up frith Constantinople to send much-needed 1 shells and supplies for the Turks were now defeated. It will be a long time 'before we can hamper from Salonika 'the Germans' route for munitions to jGallipoli, and thus it will be impossible to prevent a considerable increab© of the difficulties at the Dardanelles. The anomalies and uncertainty of ' the Greek attitude overcloud the position. Greece is dominated by a desire to keep out of the war, but if this is impossible, then she will fight on the ginning side. Th e .King, tho General Staff, and the majority of the people believe that Germany is winning. j The Bulgarian occupation of Monastir would stir jealousies into Greece, and anything might sting her into action on either side.

The French are holding back the Bulgars at Cerna, and also on the heights of the Bulgarian frontier, where part of the British contingent is held in reserve, the rest being encamped eight miles away. I At Salonika, excellent health and : spirits prevail in the Anglo-French 'and Greek armies, and'a sprinkling of Serbs, Bulgars, and Turks rub 'shoulders. There is a remarkable ar'ray of warships, transports, and hos'pifcal ships in the harbor.

WITH THE SERBIANS. ''•' IT,I I; London, November 25. Latest telegrams from Serbia state that the situation is most serious. The Serbians have lost their hold of the historic Kosspvo .plain,, wnere fighting continues in which the Bulgarians claim to have capture"* many prisoners. The Serbian victory at Leskovatz was only a partial success, and did not avail to stop the enemy's advance, which was followed by sanguinary battles between the Serbian rearguards and Bulgarian vanguards north of Monastir ,neither side gaining nor asking quarter. Official Serbian accounts of the fighting state -that the forces are intact, the commissariat is working well, ana that the Serbian morale is not affected... by the » reverses. The strategic* situation, is \ripi beyond redemption. , ] TJia Serbians .continue tho defensive in the defiles of the mountains in order to tire out'thejir adversaries and permit of the Allies cbn-

i centrating. I j The| Serbians are ''attempting .to pierce th e Bulgarian front towards jTJskub,in the hope that the British 1 and French-will advance in the direction* of Veles, necessitating the retreat of the Bulgarians to the western part of New Serbia. The Salonika correspondent of the Paris. Journal telegraphs that General Boyovitch has decided to maintain a. mere; curtain of troops against the Austro-Germans, hurling his ninety thousand men against 120 thousand Bulgars who are guarding the |de» •files at-Kachanik, |in order to effjacfr la junction nvitb-the Allies'- . t' s '

The Serbian Minister of War, inter-; viewed' afcV Salonika, said Serbia still had 200,000 thousand men, aftei\ 35,000 had been killed and wounded and 20,000 were prisoners. Her only deficiency was in heavy artillery. Italy's participation in encountering difficulties, owing to divergent views regarding Albania. He added that France and England are preparing surprises in the Balkans. HELP FROM RUSSIA. London, November 25. German semi-official reports confirm the statement that 200,000 Russians are concentrated to assist the Serbians. Reni is transformed .into a huge military camp, and the harbor is full of barges containing equipped troops, ready, at a moment's notice, to move across the Danube. Traffic from Reni to Galatz is suspended. \'> ■'■■ > •■ .

ACTION BY ROUMANIA. Paris, November 24. A wireless message states that Roumania has refused an Austrian request ,to permit gunboats to navigate the Danube and thus reach the Black Sea." MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. London, November 25. A German wireless states • We have taken Prishtina, and the Austrians have captured Mitrovitza. ■ Colonel Repington, in the Times, [deprecates an offensive in the Bal--1 kans, where, he says, we will lose ! fifty per cent, of the troops from sickness and exposure. Rome, November 24. The Corriere della Sera publishes an interview with M. Venizelos, who stated that his conviction that the Entente would win was unshaken. : Greece's safety lay in the hands of those commanding the sea. He was now able to disclose the secret memorandum to the King in January, relating to the Dardanelles. He pointed out that Greece would have gained enormous compensations in Asia Minor for limited military assistance. He was pledged to send one division, 'and believed the Entente would be satisfied with the co-operation of the Greek-fleet. M. Venizelos added that when he informed the King that he had mobilised the army to assist Serbia, and also secured Anglo-French assistance, the King replied that he did not desire foreign troops to tread oh Greek soil. \