FRANCE AND GERMANY

Evening Star, Issue 22195, 25 November 1935, Page 11

FRANCE AND GERMANY

EFFORT TO ESTABLISH BETTER RELATIONS A DIFFICULT TASK Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright _ LONDON, November 23. : The' Paris correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ says: “ General opinion does not exaggerate the optimism regarding the Franco.-Germau conversations. Wellinformed circles believe that little real progress has been made. The German objections to a Franco-Russian pact have not been diminished. The French similarly mistrust eastern pacts. Little value attaches to the agreement regarding land armaments, especially by the French General Staff, owing to the difficulty of effective control. Moreover, M. Francois Poncet was not able to hold out hope of an early German return to the League, pending a settlement of the Italian dispute.” OPINION IN BERLIN 1 _ BERLIN, November 23. Inspired comment suggests that overcoming the Franco-German antagonism is still very difficult," but the communique issued yesterday is a useful step. It is believed that the present time, with its international and domes- , tic preoccupations, is not propitious for a resumption of direct Franco-German relations. Germans have been informed that, despite the occasional FrancoBritish divergencies, a policy founded on their fundamental rift would be useless.