FOREIGN POLICY

Evening Star, Issue 25567, 21 August 1945, Page 5

FOREIGN POLICY

Labour Reveals Its Goal

Economic Security for World

Balkan Rule Not. Representative

Disguised Totalitarianism

(Eec. 12.30 fun.) RUGBY, August 20. Making his first big speech in the House of Commons to-day, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Ernest Bevin, declared that there would be much in the period ahead of us which we did not like. “ One thing, however, we must aim at resolutely, even at the beginning, and that is to prevent the substitution of one form of totalitarianism for another,” he said. He went on to define the primary aim of the Government’s foreign policy as the economic reconstruction of the world with its general work based on the decisions accepted at Potsdam.,

Dealing with the policy to particular countries he-said of Greece: “ Our objective there is the setting up of a stable.democratic Government." The United States and France had agreed to help in supervising the elections in Greece, and he proposed to invite representatives of the dominion Governments as .part of the British contingent of observers. The Regent of Greece,, meanwhile, was coming to Britain for face-to-face discussion. Referring to the situation in the Balkans, he declared: “The Governments which have been sei up in Bulgaria, Rumania, and Hungary do not, in our view,' represent the majority of the people, and the impression obtained from recent developments is that one kind of totalitarianism is being replaced for another. That is not what we understand by the very much overworked word ‘ democracy,’ which appears to need definition. The form of government which has been set up as a result does not impress us as being sufficiently representative to meet the requirements of diplomatic relations.” Mr Bevin said that also would be the Government’s view of the results of the coming elections in Bulgaria.