WITHDRAWAL MOVE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22241, 29 January 1947, Page 5

WITHDRAWAL MOVE

THREAT AUSTRIAN TREATMENT STATEMENT OF VIEWS LONDON, Jan. 27. The Canadian Government is reported to be considering withdrawal from any participation in the conference of the Foreign Ministers’ deputies in London following the deputies’ failure to furnish an assurance that a statement on views now prejudice Canada's participation at the later stages of the treaty making, says the Australian Associated Press' correspondent. The Canadian representatives in London are awaiting instructions from Ottawa and cancelled the arrangements which the deputies made to hear their views on both treaties last Friday. The deputies meeting this morning had had no further communication from Canada, but decided to invite her representative to state her views on Wednesday. Plea For Greece The deputies heard the Greek Ambasador, M. Aghnides, plead that in view of her sacrifices during the war Greece should be associated more closely with the work of the Council of Foreign Ministers, and should be invited to participate fully in the drafting of the Austrian treaty. Greece had no feelings of revenge against Austria, but felt that she must bear the responsibility for participating in a war alongside Germany. M. Aghnides urged that Austria should help Germany in meeting the Allied reparation claims. He suggested that gold found in Austrian banks in Germany should be used for this purpose. He requested that a clause should be inserted in the Austrian treaty compelling Austria to purchase one-third of her annual consumption of tobacco from Greece for the next 15 years. Tho deputies, when M. Aghnides withdrew, set up a military committee to reconcile the draft of the military clauses prepared by the United Kingdom, the United States and France, and decided to request the Allied Council in Vienna for information on how Austria had honoured the German declaration of surrender on June 5, 1945.