COLONEL BECK

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 81, 3 October 1938, Page 7

COLONEL BECK

RECENT ACn^EHES

' RUSSIANS STUDY THEM

Soviet diplomatists have directed sharp:attention for some time on the activities of' Colonel Beck, the Polish Foreign Minister, especially in connection with his efforts to create an/understanding between the States bordering on the Soviet Union, says the Moscow correspondent qi the "Manchester Guardian." His trips from Warsaw to the capitals,of most of the countries of Eastern .Europe have led the. Soviet Ress to refer to him sarcastically as "Figaro,here, Figaro there." ■ ' Soviet suspicions of Colonel Beck's intentions came to a. head again on the occasion of his recent visits to Estonia and- Latvia. His stay in Kovho, the capital of Lithuania, which has long, been an object of especial Soviet concern, was particularly remarked. Soviet Russia cannot afford to: be indifferent to any* developments m-Polish-Lithuanian relations or to an alteration in Lithuania's attitude towards its commitments as a member of the {League of Nations. As Soviet opinion processes to regard Colonel Beck as an agent of Hitler, it remains convinced that.one of his objectives is to.,wean Lithuania, as well as the other Baltic States, away from their fidelity to* Article 16 of the League Covenant. . A leading article in "Pravda" on July 19 f read an, anti-Soviet significance into Colonel Beck's visit to the Baltic. The so-called "block of neutral States extending from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean," which it is alleged Colonel Beck is endeavouring to create, "Pravda" claims to be a Fascist organisation which will be wielded in good time as an instrument against Russia. MERELY A MASK. ' In Soviet eyes the word "neutrality" is invariably held to be a mask for objectives or activities hostile to the Soviet Union. . "Pravda" claims that the real reason behind Colonel Beck's "neutrality" moves is the intention to create a military base for German Fas-.! cism in the Baltic from which an attack on • Soviet territory may be launched. Estonia, it is claimed, has already fallen a victim to the schemes of "Hitler's tool" from Warsaw. "Pravda" also called attention to Colonel Beck's intention to visit Oslo. The Soviet Press had devoted some inspired attention recently to, the position of. the Scandinavian countries to- | wards the threat of a European war, and its attitude is suggested by such a I newspaper heading as "Scandinavian 'Neutrality' is Cowardly Policy of Aiding Germany, the Aggressor." Recalling that without supplies from j Scandinavia, Germany would not have been in a position to carry on hostilities during the Great War, a recent Soviet commentator pointed out that, in the event of a new war only Germany will "be-dependent upon supplies from the northern countries. Russia, he said, will cover its requirements from within the country, and Great Britain can depend upon its colonies and Dominions. Maintenance of imports of Swedish iron ore into Germany would be of decisive importance, he argued, •^hich explains German efforts to assure a supply base in Scandinavia and pressure on these countries to renounce their obligations to the League for support of collective security. ' THE NORWEGIAN COAST. jThe Soviet Press has declared that C^many is putting herself in a positioQ' to blockade Norway and cut off G& shipments to England in case of ■wax. It is alleged that the German cruiser Koln manoeuvred for some time off Norvik, the Norwegian port through which much Swedish ore passes, and subsequently the cruiser Leipzig went there, ostensibly to aid the Koln after s& accident. The Soviet Press ridicules the claim that these warships iare. protecting German fishing-vessels by observing that the real reason is the - same as that which inspires Gertakn cinema producers persistently to select .the Norwegian fjords for shoot-: ing: films. The Scandinavian countries are rebuked in the Soviet Press for ignoring such developments and for failing to realise that their control over Germany's supplies in case of war puts them in a : position to. assist strongly in maintaining peace by declaring, in-stead-of "neutrality," a policy of refusing supplies to a warring aggressor.