ITALY’S CLAIMS IN ALBANIA

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1926, Page 9

ITALY’S CLAIMS IN ALBANIA

JUGO SLAVIAN MINISTER RESENTS TREATY RESIGNATION CAUSES STIR IN POLITICAL CIRCLES WILL FRANCE INTERVENE TO STAY ITALY’S HAND? t (Press Association—Copyright.) Received Dee. 8, 7.29 p.m. Geneva, Dec. 7. Diplomatic circles are agog over the resignation from the Foreign Ministry of Jugo-Slavia. of M. Minchitchs, President of the League of Nations. It is Supposed to be because he disapproved of the Cabinet’s policy in relation to the new ItaloAlbanian treaty. a The Jugo-Slavik Ministry has now resigned.

M. Nichichs’ view is believed to be based on the conviction that Italy has virtually achieved a protectorate over Albania, in connection with which a German diplomat recently asserted that Great Britain had previously frustrated Italy's attempt to claim and exercise the right to interfere in Albanian internal affairs. Some diplomats declare that Italy is gaining her abject in such a manner that Jugo-Slavia cannot appeal to the League. The Belgrade newspaper Politika says the treaty contains a secret military convention ay.d Italian naval privileges in Albania. Received Nov. 8, 8.15 p.m. London, Dee. 8. The Morning Post’s diplomatic correspondent says that Jugo-Slavia has watched with increasing anxiety the privileges which Italy has recently been gaining in Albania, including concessions : or road-making, exploiting for oil, and

a large measure of bank control. The new treaty is almost certain to result in Jugo-Slavia seeking a strong point d’appui elsewhere, notably in the direction of France. Other political writers are of opinion that France is unlikely to sit quietly by while Jugo-Slavia is humbled and Italy established firmly in the Balkans. Received Dee. 8, 7.30 p.m. Geneva, Dec. 7. Contrary to his usual custom, Signor Schioloja, the Italian representative, has hie headquarters in a small suburban hotel, where he is adopting an attitude of isolation while awaiting overtures from France on the one hand and from Germany on the other. In the meantime the Government in Rome is reported to be holding back a treaty with Germany pending the developments at Geneva. Munir Bey, the Turkish Minister in Berne, has appeared on the scene as an official observer, though there are no Turkish questions on the agenda.