Finns Break With Britain

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 179, 30 July 1941, Page 5

Finns Break With Britain

PARTNERS OF GERMANY (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, July 28. Finland has decided to break off diplomatic relations with Britain. This decision was communicated by tne Finnish Foreign Minister to -dr. G. Yereker, Britisn Minister to Helsingfors, after the Foreign Minister had handed Mr. Yereker a mesaago inform-: ing him that Finland was a co-belliger-! ent with Germany and that normal | .diplomatic relations between Britain and Finland could hardly be main- I tained. In reply to Mr. Yereker’s question 1 whether tnis statement meant tuat Fin-1 land was requesting a severance of i diplomatic relations, the Foreign 1 Minister replied that this was so. it is regretted in London that Finland has Drought herself to a position in which it is possible for German pressure to compel her to sever diplomatic relations with Britain, who, in consideration for her friendship for Finland, refrained from taking the same measures as she took in the case of Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary when these countries allowed themselves to become collaborators with the Nazi aggressor. The Soviet Foreign Office, in affirming that the Finnish Government is detaining on various pretexts Soviet consular and commercial representatives, besides engineers and other officials who were in Finland beforo the ■war, has asked the Swedish Government to intervene and to muke representations to the Finnish Government concerning their detention. BRITAIN RELIEVED OF EMBARRASSING DECISION Received Tuesday, 9.30 p.m. LONDON, July 29. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says Finland’s decision, obviously under severe German pressure, has relieved Britain of a delicate and unpleasant task. Since we openly pronounced a state of alliance with Russia it has been embarrassing to maintain relations with a country which declared itself to be at war against the Soviet Union. It has been possible to maintain an anomalous position during the past weeka because Finland stressed that she was not an active belligerent.