LONDON CONFERENCE ON TREATIES

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25086, 18 January 1947, Page 9

LONDON CONFERENCE ON TREATIES

Austrian Delegation To Attend (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

(Rec. 10 P- m ) LONDON, Jan. 17. A Foreign Office spokesman said that the Foreign Ministers’ deputies, w ho are considering the Austrian Treaty, had had a “fruitful morning.” It was decided, in response to a request from Austria, that she should be invited to state her views in writing and support them orally. The United States and the United Kingdom had tabled draft peace treaties when the conference began. General Mark Clark, (United States) withdrew the American draft saying that he -would replace it with another in a few days. Mr Gusev (Russia) and Mr de Murville (France) also indi-’ cated that they would submit drafts S °Lord Hood (Britain) left his draft on the table as a basis for discussion, although he indicated* that it would be subject to substantial modification. The deputies agreed to a suggestion by Mr Gusev that the treaty should be called the “Treaty for the Re-es-tablishment of an Independent Democratic Austria.”

Mr Gusev proposed that the treaty should include in its preamble the names of the Big Four countries and Austria and that the other States interested should be given an oppor-

tunity of adhering to it by an accession clause within the treaty. Lord Hood argued that the small nations which were active in the war against Germany, including -Jugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Dominions, should be named in the preamble along with the Big Four. The deputies were considering this question when they adjourned until to-day.

.The news tb at Austria has been invited to the London conference is de--86 the best since the country’s liberation, says the Vienna correspondent of “The Times.”

A statement by the Government says a delegation will leave within a few ?i? ys « Tt . will P r obably be headed by the foreign Minister, Mr Gruber, and will include three members of Par - liament. one from each of the three parties.

The newspaper “Neuss Ossterreich” expresses a hope that Austria will be "treated at the conference as an equal. It recalls the history of the St. Germain Treaty after the first world war when the Austrian delegation at Paris headed by- Dr. Renner, wfio is now the President, was kept behind barbed wire. Dr. Renner attending only under a military escort. The newspaper adds: "Never again St. Germain” should be the Austrian delegation’s slogan this time.

JUGOSLAVIA’S CLAIMS

Jugoslavia, in a paper submitted to the Foreign Ministers’ deputies, has demanded the union of Slovene Carinthia and the Slovene areas of Styria with Jugoslavia. , The area claimed in Slovene Carinthia covers 900 square miles and includes 180,000 inhabitants. The area claimed in Styria covers 60 square miles and includes 10,000 inhabitants. Jugoslavia also demanded protection of the national rights of the Burgenland Croats or their exchange with the

Austrian minority which the proposed new frontier would leave within Jugoslavia. Jugoslavia bases its demands on the Big Three’s acknowledgement at Moscow in 1943 of Austria's responsibility for participating in the war on the side of Germany. Jugoslavia declares that Austria plotted with Germany before the anschluss in 1938 to attack Jugoslavia and actively cooperated when the attack was launched in 1941.

CANADA’S- PROTEST TO DEPUTIES

The Canadian Government has lodged with the Deputy Foreign Ministers’ conference in London a protest against the type of invitation it received to participate in drafting the Austrian and German peace treaties. Canada interprets the invitation as meaning that her contribution towards the drafting may be limited to a written statement supplemented by oral comment. The Canadian Minister of External Affairs, Mr Louis St. Laurent, said: “The Canadian Government does not regard the invitation In its present

form as affording Canada an opportunity for participating in a manner appropriate for a country which contributed substantially to the war against Germany. There is no indication that there will be an opportunity for a Canadian representative to discuss with the deputies either the substance of the treaties or the procedure by which they will be drafted.” In its protest Note Canada suggested that the other Allies should work with the deputies and fully participate in the discussions. South. Africa and the Netherlands have lodged similar protests.