THE BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1915, Page 5

THE BALKANS.

GREEKS LEAVE LINE CLEAR. RELIEF IN GREECE. AT RELEASE OF GREEK SHIPS. Received Dec. 15, 5.5 p.m. Athens, December 14. The Greeks have now withdrawn from the whole line of the Allies' retreat, leaving the roads clear for guns and transport. There is some uncertainty as to whether the Bulgarians, in addition to th< Germans, will e"hdeavor to follow the Allies into Greece, but the German forces, without the Bulgarians, are too small to create uneasiness. The release of Greek ships detained at Entente ports ha 3 caused intense relief in Athens and the Piraeus, for th» shortage of coal threatened a stoppage of the gas and electric companies, while a bread famine was momentarily feared through t\ie non-arrival of grain ships.

AGREEMENT NEAR AT HAND. GREECE MAY PARTLY DEMOBILISE. Received Dec. 15, 8.40 p.m. Salonika, Dec. 14. Athens newspapers indicate that an agreement with the Entente is imminent, involving semi-demobilisation. FRENCH TROOPS ON GREEK SdlL BULGARIANS NOT YET OROSSED. •Received Dec. 15, 9.40 p.m. Paris, Dec. 15. All our troops are collected on Greek soil. The Bulgarians have not yet crossed the frontier. THE GREEK CRISIS. GERMAN PRESS HOPEFUL. Received Dec. 15, 8.5 p.m. London, Dec. 14. German newspapers attach great importance to the fact that King Constantine twice received the Bulgarian Minister, for two hours on each occasion, before handing his reply to the Entente. It is significant also that there have been repeated conversations between the Bulgarian Minister, M. Skouloudis (Greek Premier), the War Minister,' Chief of General Staff, and the Minister of Home Affairs.

GHEVGELI OCCUPIED. BOLGARS AND GERMANS ENTER GREECE. Received Dec. 15, 85 pjn. Salonika, Dec. 14. Following the occupation of Ghcvgeli, the Bulgarians to-day entered Greek territory in a south-westerly direction. BATTLE OF DOIRAN. lOsOOO BULGARS PERISH. ALLIES STILL LANDING AT SALONIKA. Received Dec. 15, 8.40 p.m. Salonika, Dec. 14. Ten thousand Bulgarians perished on the Doiran-Kosturino sector, where 15,000 British held out bravely against horde. The timely arrival of reinforcements enabled the British to proceed with an orderly retreat. The Allies are landing day and night.

ITALY'S AID. 80,000 MEN H)R ALBANIA. Received Dec. 16, 8.15 p.m. Rome, Dec. 14. M ia reported that Italy will shortly be able to land 80,000 troops in Albania. GERMAN WAR COUNCIL. RAISER TO MACKENSEN. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received Dec. 15, 5.5 p.m. London, Dee. 14. Copenhagen states that there has been an important German War Council on the Eastern front, the Kaiser presiding. Generals Falkenhayn, Mackensen, and von Hindenburg, and the Turco-Bulgarian staffs were present. The German press thinks that the Allies have been trapped, and that defeat is a matter of a few days only. The Kaiser, in a letter of thanks to General Mackensen, says: "You have succeeded in crushing a brave enemy, and, in overcoming enormous difficulties at great speed, defeating the enemy on all fronts. I shall never forget the debt I owe you."

"NOT TILL APRIL." * TOE ATTITUDE OF ROUMANIA. AN INTE'RVENTIONIST'S IMPRESSIONS. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received Dec. 15, 5.5 p.m. London, Dec. 14. The King of Roumania, on being asked by the poet Estill whether he would have time to complete a drama before Roumania's intervention, characteristically replied: "Finish your labor tranquilly; you have until April." The Paris press interviewed M. Filipescus, who said that Roumanian confidence in the Allies was stronger than ever. Roumania could exercise a decisive influence, but rfhe Germans had exerted the most violent pressure on Bucharest, threatening to attack it. The interventionists arc greatly satisfied with the Allies' decision to remain at Salonika, as a retreat ■would have profoundly affected the Balkans. The interventionists are faced with new difficulties since Serbia was overrun, and it is necessary | for the Allies, including Russia, to pour