CORDIAL FEELING

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25051, 15 November 1944, Page 5

CORDIAL FEELING

THEMES OF PARIS TALKS SECURITY AFTER THE WAR LONDON, Nov. 33 A communique issued by the French Government on the Anglo-French talks stressed the cordial atmosphere and "complete concordance of views" between the two Governments on the large number of questions reviewed. Renter's correspondent in Paris, commenting on the communique, says: " Taken in conjunction with Mr Churchill's speech yesterday, it gives a clear indication of both the spirit and the main themes of the conversations. The rearming of the French Army will be given urgent British priority.. General de Gaulle's reception yesterday of Field-Marshal Brooke and Generals Ismay and Juin indicates that this decision is being immediately carried to the practical military plane. "The talks demonstrate that full Anglo-French relations are now restored with all that this implies for the conduct of Western European affairs," the correspondent adds. "While rejecting the conception of a Western bloc in an isolationist sense, Britain and France need this intimate collaboration for the speedy solution of the many problems of mutual interest within the broader framework of the United Nations' plans. "France's right to a full share in Allied decisions affecting Germany and plans for the permanent removal of the military menace in Europe is also vitally important because it removes the deepest fear in all Frenchmen —that the conditions of France's post-war security might be decided without her." Mr Eden has returned to London from Paris, but Mr Churchill is remaining in France for the present. It is stated that outstanding AngloFrench questions, for example Syria, were reviewed in the frankest and friendliest terms.

The British United Press correspondent in Paris says that well-informed quarters in Paris state that Mr Churchill and General de Gaulle have reached complete agreement on the general outlines of European security and organisation which it is intended should forge an iron ring around They are believed to have agreed in principle to the necessitv for forming a permanent grand alliance between Britain, France and Russia, and also the necessity for a number of regional pacts within the framework of an alliance between different countries with identical interests. Mr Churchill is believed to have agreed that France will not only participate in the military occupation of Germany, but also in the Allied military government of the Reich.