FUTURE OF THE SAAR

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27987, 6 June 1956, Page 13

FUTURE OF THE SAAR

French-German Agreement

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) . LUXEMBOURG, June 5. French and West German leaders had reached agreement on all problems discussed at their meeting in Luxembourg, including that of the Saar, a joint communique said today.

The communique, issued after the talks had lasted late into the morning, listed the joint problems as the Saar, the Moselle Canal, and the Alsace Canal. , ' • T he Saar, 800 square miles of rich industrial territory between Germany and France, Was the main problem of the talks. France had agreed that it would return to its pre-war union with Germany next January, provided outstanding questions were settled. These outstanding questions on the Saar concerned the compensation sought by France for the economic advantages she would lose by ending her existing. Customs and Currency Union with the territory and its 1,000.000 German-speaking inhabitants. France recognised that union of the Saar and Germany was inevitable after last October when the Saarlanders rejected control of their affairs by an All-Eurbpean body and voted proGerman parties into poweih A conference spokesman said agree-? ment on I,he Warndt (Saar) coal basin envisaged the gradual withdrawal of French mining rights over 25 years. Germany had agreed to pay part of the cost and of a canal in the Moselle. There was a last-minute hitch in the talks which, according to one French source, arose from plans for mapping the Warndt coal basin which would leave France with less extensive mining rights than she had bargained for: Then the West German Foreign Minister (Dr. von Brentano) emerged from the meeting to announce that the difficulty had been settled.

The commuhique was issued soon after.