Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1926. BALKAN SECURITY PACT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 12 January 1926, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1926. BALKAN SECURITY PACT

THAT it is seriously pre'[posed that the Balkan States shall enter into a Security Pact, similar to that of Locarno, is indicative of the itew spirit which is tii ring Europe. The Balkan States— Jugoslavia, Rumania, Hungary, Bulg.,,ia. and Greece—badly stand in need of some stabilizing means which shall insure peace in the troubled Peninsula. True, the various countries, named, are all more or less under the tutelage of the League of Nations, to which they are answerable for their good conduct towards each other; but it is clear that, the influence of the League is not great enough to counteract the strong national differences and racial antipathies which characterise the Balkan peoples. Internationally there are a dozen causes of friction which make for strife between: them, while internally nearly all of them are vexed with some political nr social distress, which is increased hv. if its is not directly due to, the unsettled international outlook. Greece is in the grip of a military dictatorship. Bulgaria suffers from the arbitrary rule of a single division of the nation—yesterday it was the Agrarian Party, to-day it in the militarists—tied such is the unruly state of the country that since the war ended, and the civil arm resumed sway, the disruptive elements have killed no fewer than three hundred officers of the law while engaged in the public performance of their duties. In Hungary is the dictatorship of Admiral Horthy. whose, government is such as to cause perpetual ferment, and to induce continual plotting, among those political elements who seek bis overthrow. Of Roumauia it. is enough to refer to the charge recently brought by the Viennese newspaper, Allgemeine Zeitung, against the Rumanian Government, which it taxed with organising a plot to wreck Standard Oil interests in Rumania. “Propaganda, blackmail, and incendiarism already had been resorted to. it was alleged; the Vienna periodical said the Government’s attitude was inspired by Rumanian capitalists who opposed the activities of foreign corporations in Rumania.” Any movement which may -lead to tranquility in the international sphere must necessarily assist the various governments to devote all Their energies to improving the internal conditions of their respective i ountries.

Already there exists what is known as the Little Entente between Rumania. Jugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. This is an understanding between the countries named whereby it is agreed that they shall defend each other in case of invasion. It was called into being because of fear of the Central Powers. or what is left of them, and through fear of the Soviet Government of Russia. It is possible that if the Balkan States were to sign a Security Pact, Czechoslovakia and perhaps Poland would sign it too. In that case Europe would be divided, into two principal groups of nations hound together by agreements of mutual security. This, besides insuring the peace of Europe, would have a distinctly deterrent effect upon the fire-eaters of Moscow and Angora, who avowedly are only awaiting an opportunity to resort to the sword as a, means of achieving their ambitions in relation to the acquisition of foreign territories which they covet. The Locarno Pact has undoubtedly produced a steadying effect upon Russia and Turkey. Another such agreement, which should bind together the lesser European nations, would probably end indefinitely the danger of serious trouble with Russia and Turkov.