ON AXIS SOIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25503, 5 April 1944, Page 5

ON AXIS SOIL

TREATMENT OF RUMANIA SOVIET AIMS DISTURB ENEMY LONDON, Api. 3. At the first of press conferences which will be held periodically, the Soviet Foreign Commissar, Mr Molotov, said the Russian Government had no contact with and did not know the whereabouts of the Rumanian Government. Mr Molotov, on the other hand, made it clear .that Russia had been in full contact with Britain and America since the Red Army entered Rumania. He added that his statement was made with the agreement of both these allies. He declined to say how far the Russians had advanced towards Bucharest. Asked the date when the Russians entered Rumania, he answered that he was not the military spokesman, and could only say sometime between March 26 and now. Two Japanese correspondents attended the press conference, and sat silently with expressionless faces, not venturing to ask questions. The British and American correspondents, however, fired questions at Mr Molotov. German Argument Undermined Reports from Berlin indicate that Mr Molotov’s announcement on Rumania is having a disturbing effect on Germany, says 'The Times Stockholm correspondent. Such an effect was expected because the announcement undermines the strongest German argument to persuade Rumania and Hungary to stay in the war—otherwise Marshal Stalin intended utterly to destroy their national life. The first German reference to Mr Molotov’s statement came from a Berlin spokesman, who described it as a transparent manoeuvre which the Rumanians would understand was designed to hide the facts that the Russians were coming to an end of their reserves, and that the scope of their offensive must soon dwindle.

The Germans are obviousjy uneasy about the Rumanian reaction fo the Russian appeal, also to the Russian advance across the Rumanian frontier, says the correspondent. Observers in Turkey are doubting the ability of the CJermans to stem the Red Army’s onslaught on Rumania, says the Ankara correspondent of The Times. The Rumanian Army, which gave a good account of itselt during the offensive against Russia, seems to have lost its backbone, and gives signs of complete demoralisation. , The failure of the Germans to enlist the full support of the Rumanians—and the same applies to Hungary—might have far-reaching consequences, and the possibility of the. utter collapse of the entire German eastern front should not be excluded. Alters the Course of History “The Russian entry into Rumania is one of those events which alter the course of history.” says the Daily Mail editorially. "With her reassuring statement to the Rumanians, she has begun much better than we did when we invaded Italy. Russia’s method of administering occupied territory will be watched with the deepest interest. It is impossible to view the firm handling of foreign policy by the Kremlin without comparing it with the apparent lack of aim or purpose at Whitehall! Russia gives the impression of knowing what she wants, and going out to get it, whereas we appear to dither. It is not our business to analyse American foreign policy, but Whitehall and Washington between them were far from successful in the political settlement of French North Africa. Another such mess on a much graver scale will arise in France itself unless clean-cut political decisions are reached before the second front opens. There should not be three policies, but one. Everyone thought this had been recognised at the Moscow-Teheran conferences. It is time the ‘ big three ’ got together again on this point before the present divergence becomes irretrievable.” Mr Cordell Hull to-day formally associated his country with the Russian Government’s official disclaimer of territorial designs on Rumania. This, he said, made clear to the Rumanian people that the main business of the Soviet Russian armies was the defeat of the enemy in the field. He added that the political assurances which the statement contains should help the Rumanians to see that their own ultimate interest will require the Germans to be driven from their country. Mr Hull disclosed that the United States was informed in advance of the statements by Mr Molotov.