TREATY MAY BE SHELVED: U.S. PLAN

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24867, 6 May 1946, Page 5

TREATY MAY BE SHELVED: U.S. PLAN

Whatever the final decision on the Italian-Jugoslav frontier. Friday’s h'?jing of the cases presented by the tvo countries in no way helped the Foreign Ministers’ conference out of th? deadlock on all major issues of th neace treaty with Italy. Observers feel that the only chance of 'reventing a complete breakdown

is to shelve the Italian treaty temporarily and substitute a revised and easier armistice. Some observers believe that the Russians will continue to temoorise on all major issues until after the French and Italian general eketiohs next month. If the disagreement on Italy continues. Mr Byrnes’s interim plan for revision of the armistice terms of September. 1943, will presumably come up for definite discussion. It is believed that this proposal, which was first presented at an informal meeting

on Thursday, would (1) substantially maintain the status quo in Italy., her colonies. Venezia Giulia, and Trieste: (2) give Italy a freer hand in both internal and external affairs, but retain

Allied troops in Italy for redeployment and to safeguard communications to Austria: (3) retain British troops in the Italian colonies pending the peace treaty; (4) retain the Allied occupation troops in Venezia Giulia and Trieste..

“It is obvious that a genuine agreement on the main issues will not be possible at the Foreign Ministers’ conference. which is expected to end early next week,” said the diplomatic correspondent of the “Evening News” in a dispatch from Paris on Friday. “The divergencies between Russia on the one hand and Britain and America on the other are too great: but as nobodv wants the onus of an open breakdown, the final outcome is Jikely to be a superficial agreement leaving unsolved in fact, if not - in form, some major problems. “The conference is likely to be speeded up as a result of the decision to hold informal as well as formal sessions. The main decisions will probably be taken at secret sessions, in which case the nature of the decisions will become known only when thev bear fruit at the formal meetings.” It was authoritatively stated that no decision was reached at the plenarv

session after a five-hour hearing of the Italian and Jugoslav cases* on the border between the two Countries, said a correspondent in Paris. The Italian Prime Minister (Signor de Gasperi) is reported to have told the Big Four that Italy favoured a border roughly corresponding to No. 3 of the four lines suggested by the commis-

sion. Signor de Gasperi claimed that the Commission had in the main confirmed the Italian case in London last September. If the Commission had reached further east, he said, it would have been able to appreciate better the extent of the sacrifice demanded from Italy by the loss of such towns as Fiume and Zara. Signor de Gasperi expressed surprise that the Commission had suggested a line leaving 600.000 Italians under foreign rule. Mr Kardelj said that his country did

not favour any of the four lines, but the fourth, which is said to have been suggested by the Russians, was a little nearer Jugoslavia’s desires. Mr Kardelj in his case, accused the

Commission’s members of having ihisrepresented the facts in trying to find a compromise line. While he did not criticise the sending of the Commission Jugoslavia had not welcomed it since she regarded the whole of Venezia Giulia as hers by right. He re-

served the right to communicate fuller details of the Jugoslav case in writing. The Ministers quickly agreed that the Italian representative should attend the hearing of Jugoslavia’s case, which is a reversal of procedure in London last February. The deputies at first disagreed on this point because Mr Vvshinsky opposed Italy’s attendance. This afternoon Mr Molotov, while backing Mr Vyshinsky in principle, agreed to the majority wish The JtaHan and Jugoslav representatives are reported to have agreed that the Frontier Commission’s report was technically accurate, but they recommended a further examination of the frontier question and the economic implications. The representatives were invited to sneak only on the commission’s report. The Commission’s official mao showing the four suggested lines reached the Italians orilv last night.