THE NEW RUSSIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25455, 9 February 1944, Page 3

THE NEW RUSSIA

COMMENT ON CHANGES QUESTIONS OF FOREIGN POLICY (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) LONDON, Feb. 7. Considerable interest is being taken in the constitutional changes in Russia by which each of the 16 constituent republics will have its own commissariats of defence and foreign affairs, with the'right of separate diplomatic representation. The suggestion that the Soviet desires to multiply its representation at the peace conference is generally dismissed. The Observer expresses the opinion that the semi-independence granted to the present members of the Soviet Union may make little difference to them, but will smooth the way for the accession of prospective new members. It is the declared purpose of the Soviet to reabsorb the Baltic States, Bessarabia. and the provinces taken from Poland in 1939 and from Finland in 1940. Czechoslovakia a Satellite The treaty recently concluded between Mr Molotov and Dr Benes, the Observer says, implies far-reaching social and economical assimiliation of Czechoslovakia to the Soviet, making Czechslovakia a “ satellite.” Dr Benes and the Russians made it clear that they would like Poland to do likewise. Entering “the realm of speculation,” the Observer says that there is ■ nothing fantastic in the notion that some German peoples and republics could be easily accommodated among the satelThe Russian correspondent of the Observer, referring to the right of the various republics to enter into direct relations with foreign States, says that, while such, treaties technically do not require counter-signature, it would not be possible for them to run counter to Moscow’s wishes. "But Moscow will have new room tactically to manoeuvre by not being formally bound by the diplomatic commitments and obligations of the new commissars,” the correspondent adds. “ By this move it is almost certain that the Polish-Soviet conflict has entered a new phase. Claims against Poland will be made by the Ukrainians and Byelo-Russians. The Soviet Union as a whole will only be indirectly, though no doubt decisively, involved, and the Ukrainians and Byelo-Russians will be much more exacting in their demands on Poland than even Moscow itself has been.” “More Room for Manoeuvre" The Economist says: “ For the moment these dramatic reforms can only be explained in terms of Russian foreign policy. The Soviet armies have reached the Estonian border, and the future of the Baltic republics must now be decided. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania m&y be more willing to accept incorpdration into .the Soviet if they are given formal constitutional guarantees of wide autonomy. Similarly there are settlements to be made with Poland and Finland. “ Claims against Poland can now be laid from the Kiev seat of the Ukrainian Government, and from Minsk, the capital of Byelo-Russia. Claims against Finland can be raised by the Foreign Commissar of the Karelo-Finnish Republic, and claims against Rumania by the spokesman of Soviet Moldavia. Russian diplomacy will have more room for manoeuvre.”