Molotov Rejects British Representations Upon Hungary

Grey River Argus, 20 June 1947, Page 5

Molotov Rejects British Representations Upon Hungary

(Rec. 8.0). LONDON, June 19. “Britain and Russia are still at loggerheads over Hungary”, said British Ambassador Peterson, at Moscow, after his meeting with MMolotov. “M. Molotov indicated there was Soviet impatience at what he professed to regard as our continued efforts to interfere with Hungary’s internal affairs. He remained quite unmoved when I reminded him that Hungary is still subject to the Armistice Regime, which is under the control of the Allied Control Council”. Ambassador Peterson said that, although the Chairman of the Allied Control Council at Budapest was the Russian General Sviridov, the British and American members of the Council felt themselves to be entitled to be consulted over major crises. M. Molotov’s answ'er was that the present political crisis in Hungary was nothing to do with the Armistice terms of the Allied Control Council. Ambassador Peterson said he had discussed the Marshall plan with M. Molotov. He said he had been instructed to tell M. Molotov that the whole project was an economic plan, and not a political plan. BUDAPEST, June 18.

General Sviridov (Russia), actingchairman of the Allied Control Commission, at a meeting again declined to hand over depositions which the Russians announced they took from M. Bela Kovacs, former secretarygeneral of the Smallholders’ Party, who was arrested last February.

Replying to General G. H. Weems, chief of the American military mission in Hungary, General Sviridov said he acted only as an intermediary between the Soviet occupation forces and the Hungarian Government, and not as chairman of the Allied Control Commission. Asked what the documents were about, General Sviridov replied: “1 am no lawyer. They were written in Hungarian. I don’t understand Hungarian.” Count Michael Karolyi, a Hungarian elder statesman, arrived in London to-day. He hopes to see Mr Bevin and other Commoners and explain the recent developments in Hungary as the Government sees them.

Count Karolyi is a member of the Hungarian Foreign Service with the rank of Minister. He said: ‘I should like to see increasing British influence in Central Europe. Britain possesses something which both America and Russ.a lack. These two countries are still very young. They are immensely strong, but lack subtlety. The British Ambassador in Moscow, Sir Maurice Peterson, called on M. Molotov last night and discussed the situation in Hungary for almost an hour.