POLISH FRONTIER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 12 January 1944, Page 2

POLISH FRONTIER

SOVIET REJECTS CLAIM AGREEMENT MAY BE ARRANGED MUTUAL RESPECT AIMED AT London, Jan. 11. The Soviet Government has rejected the claim of the Polish Government in London, concerning the liberation of Poland, and the extension of boundaries east and west. The following statement circulated by the Tass News Agency by Government authority was broadcast over Moscow ratio: “The Polish Government declaration contained erroneous assertio. s concerning the Soviet-Polish border which was determined In accordance with the wishes of the populations of western Ukraine :.nd western Byelo (White) Russia as expressed by a plebiscite carried out in 1939 on a broad democratic basis. “Territory in the western Ukraine is populated with Ukranians in a crushing majority. The injustice created in the 1921 Riga Agreement was thus corrected by the 1939 plebiscite. The fact that western Ukraine and western Byelo Russia came into the Soviet Union not only did not infringe Poland’s interests, but on the contrary, created a reliable and permanent foundation for friendship between Poland and her neighbours, namely, the peoples of the western Ukraine and western Byelo Russia. “The Soviet Government has repeatedly declared that it stands for a strong and independent Poland and for PolishRussian friendship. The Soviet Government again declares that it is striving for the establishment of firm and friendly Polish-Russian relations founded on mutual respect and if the Polish people so desire, on mutual assistance against Germany, their principal enemy. This can be achieved by Poland joining the Russian-Czech Treaty. RESTORATION OF COUNTRY IN SIGHT “The successes of the Soviet troops are daily speeding the liberation of occupied Soviet territories and, with the operations of our Allies, are _ bringing nearer the collapse of the German war machine and the liberation of Poland and other countries. In this struggle Polish patriots are already fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army. "The possibility of the restoration of a strong and independent Polish state is therefore in sight, but Poland must not be restored by the annexation of Ukr&nian-Byelo Russian territories but by the return of territories taken from her by the Germans. Only thus is it possible to establish friendship and confidence between th« Polish, Ukranian and Byelo Russian peoples. CURZON LINE “Poland’s eastern borders could be established by an agreement with the Soviet Government which does not regard the 1939 borders as unalterable. Districts in which there are overwhelming Polish populations could be handed ove. to Poland. The Russian-Polish frontier could thus follow, roughly, the so-called Curzon line, which was accepted in 1919 by the Supreme Allied Council which provided for the inclusion of western Ukraine and Byelo Russia in the Soviet Union. Poland’s western borders must be restored by the return to Poland of Polish lands seized by Germany. Otherwise it would b- impossible to unite the*Polish people within the Polish Poland would thereby obtain an opening to the Baltic Sea. “The just striving ol the Polish people for their complete unity within a strong independent state must receive recognition and sue; 'rt. The Polish Government in London has shown itseli incapable of establishing friendly relations with the U.S.S.R. -r ’ has also shown itself incapable of organising active resistance against German invaders inside Poland Moreover, by its erroneous policy it has often played into the hands of the German invaders. It is in the interests of Poland and the Soviet Union that t ere shoult be lasting friendly relations between Polish and Russian peoples united in their struggle against the common foe. The common cause of U 1 the Allies demands it.”