BRITAIN AND SPAIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 January 1944, Page 6

BRITAIN AND SPAIN

ITALIAN SHIPS HELD

’ RUGBY, January 19. .. strong representations to tne Spanish Government have been made by the British Ambassador at Madrid regarding the Spanish refusal to’jTtease Italian ships. Mr. Eden, answering Commons questions, said the British Government had given full support to the Italian Government’s request for the release of all Italian ships in Spanish ports, and the Ambassador had recently been instructed to renew the strong representations he had already ffiade. Mr. Eden, himself, left the Spanish Ambassador in no doubt . about the British view. VOLUNTEERS IN RUSSIA • , , . LONDON, Jan. 19. Asked m the Commons whether he had any official report of the presence of Spanish troops on the Russian front, Mr. Eden said that although the greater part of the Blue Division was recent?/ withdrawn, a number of volunteers remained on the Eastern front, forming a body called the Spanish Legion. “I have informed the Spanish Government of the most .serious effect this continuing of un-neutral assistance to our enemies must have on Anglo-Spanish relations now and in the future. The British Ambassador at Madrid has been instructed to make further strong representations to Spain.” BRITISH PRESS CRITICISM (NT.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent)

LONDON, January 20. Some fairly sharp comment followed Mr. Eden’s emphasis on the unsatisfactory character of Spanish neutrality, and his renewed protest about the supposedly disbanded Blue Division.

The “Daily Mail” says the Blue Division was withdrawn from Russia, but immediately was replaced by the Spanish Legion. “This dishonest subterfuge was Franco’s contemptuous reply to our protests. One wonders whether Mr. Eden himself realises the depth of feeling aroused in this country by the Spanish Government’s long series of insults and provocations. The British people are tired of hearing that ‘strong representations’ have been made to Madrid, with no result. The point has been reached, in fact, at which protest is another word for humiliation.” The “Manchester Guardian” comments: “The Blue Division has no significance militarily. Politically, however, it proclaims to the world that Spain is against the United Nations, and its continued existence in the field is an affront.”