SCANDINAVIAN DEFENCE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 75, 8 January 1949, Page 6

SCANDINAVIAN DEFENCE

THE CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS

LONDON, Jan. 7

A two-day meeting at Karlstad, attended by the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Prime Ministers and Defence Ministers, to discuss joint Scandinavian defence, was summoned at 12 hours’ notice on Tuesday afternoon on Norwegian initiative. According to the Stockhlom pondent of the “Daily Telegraph,” themeeting followed the arrival of a special courier by air from Washington, with a secret report on informal conversations to which the Norwegian and Danish Ambassadors to the United States had been summoned by the American State Department last Monday. At the Washington talks, the correspondent says, the two Ambassadors were told of the progress reached in Washington among the prospective signatories to the Atlantic Pact, and were unofficially informed that, if their Governments were interested and willing,,-a formal invitation for Danish and Norwegian participation in the pact would be issued. No similar aproach was made to Sweden or to its Washington representative.

Sweden, it is believed, wishes to maintain its position of complete neutrality, but Norway and Denmark increasingly favour alignment with the Western Powers. The fact that a further meeting will be. held in Copenhagen is said to indicate that the Swedes want time to study their position before reaching a decision.' PROBLEMS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE (Rec. 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 7. The Danish Foreign Office spokesman said in Copenhagen to-day that the Danish-Norwegian-Swedish foreign relations committee would meet next week to discuss the future of Scandanavia because the problems facing the three countries were of such vital importance that discussions on the broadest possible basis were necessary.

In Oslo the Norwegian Prime Minister (Kiner Gerharsen) denied that Norway had' been invited to join the proposed Atlantic Union.