AN AGREEMENT EXPECTED

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21974, 24 December 1936, Page 11

AN AGREEMENT EXPECTED

THE MEDITERRANEAN PROBLEM RIGHTS OF BRITAIN AND ITALY i (UNITED MESS ASSOCIATION— COPYIUGHT.) (Received December 23, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, December 22. It is generally expected in France that a Mediterranean agreement between Britain and Italy will follow Britain's action in substituting a Consulate-General for the Legation in Addis Ababa. It may also lead to an agreement on Spain between these powers and France, as Signor Mussolini is reported to be alarmed at the extent of German tionIt is reported that Italy will recognise British rights as ia:- as the Red Sea, and that Britain will accept the predominant interest of'ltaly on the coasts of Abyssinia and Somahland. BRITISH VIEW OF i REPORT PREMATURE RATHER THAN UNDULY OPTIMISTIC (BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.) j RUGBY, December 22. Enquiries in well-informed quarters in London indicate that the fore- j casts which are in circulation of an early conclusion to the discussions which are proceeding on British and Italian interests in the Mediterranean are premature rather than unduly optimistic. The basis of the conversations is the mutual assumption that the interests of the two Governments in the Mediterranean are complementary, and a formal reaffirmation of these must follow a close examination by both parties, in a spirit of goodwill, of all possible sources of misunderstanding or friction. 'Both in the eastern and western Mediterranean, recent developments have certainly not lessened the number of points on which the British Government will desire to feel assured that it has been acquainted with the whole mind of the Italian Government and that it has made its own position clear beyond doubt.