THE ITALIAN TREATY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26198, 8 July 1946, Page 4

THE ITALIAN TREATY

After weeks of difficult and, at times, stormy negotiation, the conference of 1 Foreign Ministers at Paris appears at last to have reached a basis of agreement on the treaty with Italy. The frequent reports on the squabbles which arose from the divergency of opinions at the council table have tended to dull the interest of the New Zealand public—so far removed from the tension of European politics—in the proceedings of the conference on the treaty, but there should be no underestimation of the importance of the announcement that a solution to the problem has been reached,- in principle at least. All four parties have made concessions which indicate a realistic approach to the problem and a sincere attempt to reconcile conflicting aspirations. The cabled reports state that Trieste, and a portion, at least, of the Julian March, will be created a free territory, the integrity of which will be guaranteed by the Security Council. As the French line has apparently been accepted as the basis on which the boundaries will be fixed, Jugoslavia will presumably be granted sovereignty of practically the whole of Venezia Giulia, including the important port of Pola. This compromise appears to be the only practical solution to the dispute. While it may not satisfy the extreme demands of either Italy or Jugoslavia, it may remove from both the source of future acrimony and possible hostilities. Trieste will remain an outlet for Central Europe traffic and. under the supervision of the Security > Council, should be able to develop its prosperity without becoming another city of fear, as Danzig was. The reports from Paris do not state what final decisions were made regarding the indisposition of the Italian Colonial Empire, but there is no doubt that Italy will be called upon to give up much of her outlying territory, especially in Africa, to which she has renounced all rights and titles. Britain, in 1941, promised the Senussi that they would never again come under Italian rule, and the withdrawal of the Russian claims regarding the North African states leaves the way clear for the setting up of a trusteeship for these desert areas. It appears probable also that Abyssinia will receive compensation by the grant of Eritrea, while Mr Bevin’s suggestion that British, Italian and Abyssinian Somaliland be'united in a single Somali State under British mandate may be accepted. In the Mediterranean, Greece will certainly recover the* Dodecanese Islands, including Rhodes. Agreement on these questions is not likely to be long delayed. The contentious issue of reparations appears to have been settled in principle with less delay than might have been expected. Mr Molotov’s concessions on the Trieste question and his agreeing to having a date fixed for the 21nation peace conference, have been rewarded with the recognition of

most of the Soviet’s demands on Italy. The original Russian claim was for the sum of £25,000,000, as well as reparations in kind, but the still rather indeterminate reports from the conference indicate that Mr Molotov has agreed to the suggestion that his country should accept goods to the value of the amount claimed in cash. The claims for reparations of Balkan States which suffered from Fascist aggression will come up for consideration at the peace conference which is to be opened in Paris on July 29.