RUSSIA AND THE LEAGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22368, 15 September 1934, Page 12

RUSSIA AND THE LEAGUE

Until about a year ago the official attitude of the Soviet towards the League of Nations was one of definite aloofness. Latterly the evolution of Russian foreign policy, as conducted by that energetic diplomatist, M. Litvinoff, has tended to modify her disposition and lead her to Geneva. It was made known some mouths ago that negotiations were in train to bring about her entrance into the League, the French Government and the Governments of the Little Entente being particularly credited with a determination to take active steps with this end in view. In May last, after M. Barthou had discussed the matter with M. Litvinoff at Geneva, the official Soviet organs declared that a number of the League Powers had moved to invite Russia to join that organisation, and emphasised the point that the initiative had come from the other side. Speaking in’ the House of Commons about two months ago, shortly after M. Barthou’s visit to London, Sir John Simon dealt with the proposed pact of mutual assistance embracing a number of coun-

tries in the eastern part of Europe—among them Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and the Baltic States —and said that if Russia were to become a party to this new arrangement in Europe it was absolutely necessary that she should come within the League of Nations. He added: “ There is no doubt that the immense power of a country embracing one hundred and fifty million people should be exerted inside and not outside the collective system of the League of Nations, It would be an immense gain to have Russia within the League, and we are prepared to welcome her whenever she makes application for admission.” The prediction that this question would come before the September session of the League Assembly has proved correct. It will be judged from the cablegrams, however, that the procedure that was adopted in respect of the framing and despatch of the invitation, for which the Soviet is presumably waiting, has not given entire satisfaction. The French delegation has apparently been quite successful in securing the necessary number of signatures, but M. Litvinoff has raised some objection to the text of the invitation, and Mr de Valera has protested against the manner in which the business has been handled, claiming, with some reason, that it should be conducted in public and “ not in hotel bedrooms.” The Free State leader also referred with some bitterness to the attitude of the Soviet towards religion, though he agreed that this consideration was outweighed by the importance attaching to Russia’s entry into the League. The attitude taken up by the Vatican on this question has been uncompromising, but the League Powers would be showing themselves to be less than reasonable if they were to refuse to admit Russia into the councils at Geneva on the gound only that her citizens do not enjoy freedom of worship. It would appear that the conditions under which Russia would enter the League have required some special consideration. Less than half of the League’s fifty-seven members have as yet accorded the Soviet regime official recognition, and the formal invitation, with a canvass for signatures, was apparently a necessary preliminary in order to afford the Soviet the assurance it required as to the result of a vote in the Assembly. The attitude of Poland seems to have threatened to introduce a Complication. Her Government was believed to be willing to support the admission of Russia to the League on certain conditions, one of which was that Poland should have a permanent seat on the Council. Whether Poland is insisting on her demand for a similar place, if, as is proposed, Russia is to have a permanent seat on the League Council, has not been disclosed. But a pronouncement by the Polish Foreign Minister which has caused some stir at Geneva is interpreted in some quarters as meaning nothing y less than that the so-called Eastern Locarno pact is practically dead, because of his country’s refusal to participate. Yet it is the a paet arrangement' that has provided much of the impetus for negotiations respecting the admission of Russia to the League.