ALOOFNESS DEAD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 January 1944, Page 4

ALOOFNESS DEAD

ACCORDING TO DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTERS CARDINAL FACTS DISCUSSED IN INTERESTING BROADCAST NEED OF MUTUAL ACTION & GUARANTEED PEACE “The underground press in the Netherlands —that monument of cool coinage in the highest sense of the woid confirms the fact that in Holland many people arc devoting their thoughts to the line of conduct which the Nelheilands will have to adopt towards other countries after liberation,” said the Netherlands Minister for Foreign. Affairs. Dr E. N. van Kieffens, in a broadcast from London over Radio Oranje, on the evening of December 28 last, when he spoke to the people of the Netherlands on the future foreign policy of their country. The Minister said that one day the Netherlands people would again be free to determine their own fate and that it was' therefore his intention to contribute, for the time being. a few stones only towards the building which the Netherlands people would themselves erect.

Dr van Kieffens said it was agreed that the pre-war policy of aloofness was stone dead. Reviewing what should replace this aloofness he referred to a question asked him publicly by an Englishman: “Why didn’t the Netherlands make a military agreement with Great Britain before the German invasion?” The Minister replied, also publicly, that the question could not arise, were it only because Britain had gone too far in disarmament and that she was then incapable of offering sufficient resistance, although England could have addressed the same reproach to the Netherlands.

CONDITIONS OF CO-OPERATION

“With a view towards the future this point should be noted carefully. We Netherlanders can only think of military collaboration when we ourselves possess armed forces commensurate with circumstances—we need not, for instance, be armed to the teeth all the time if Germany is disarmed—and, on the other hand, if those with whom it is proposed to collaborate possess, and keep in being, a sufficiently important rpilitary apparatus. When, therefore, General Smuts advises us to collaborate with Britain after the war my answer is: ‘We can only think of this provided the British Empire, and Britain in particular, shows, like ourselves, that it has no intention of going once more on the, way towards large-scale disarmament.’ This implies, in any case, that we cannot tie ourselves once and for all.” Dr van Kieffens asked whether, bearing this important proviso in mind, it would be a good thing to seek future co-operation with Great Britain. He then gave a few cardinal facts from which Netherlanders could draw their own conclusions.

GERMAN HYPOCRISY In this respect the Minister first of all referred to the German tendency towards committing violence against others, adding that Germany had displayed this tendency for many years and that it was not to be expected that she would change. “Germany is going to lose the war and this will breed a spirit of revenge.” Dr van Kieffens warned that Germans reach great heights of chicanery and hypocrisy whenever this suits them and we must not be taken in. Secondly he warned that all Nazi doctrines such as that of the “Herrenvolk,” etc., flave been thoroughly drummed into the German people, turning them into savages. Illustrating his meaning, Dr van Kieffens said: “Aiwolf in a cage may look tame but he will never be really tame.” Thirdly: “We must clearly visualise the fact that in modern times no nation can be militarily strong without having at its disposal an enormous industrial organisation. If the Netherlands are left to themselves they will never have such an organisation. If we continue to stand alone we can never make sure that in the hour of peril we will possess the requisite armaments or shall be able to obtain them. At the same time, if others do not know to what extent they can count on us, they will be reluctant to assist us with armaments.” THE CHOICE TO BE MADE Summing tip, the Minister said: “In any case the choice is between isolation or joining other peoples of good will. This is the choice you will have to make.” He then examined the question of whom to join, pointing out that the Germans say the Netherlands have been asked to merge with the British Empire. Dr van Kieffens said the Netherlands people may rest assured that they will not be asked anything of the sort, for the British Empire is a community kept together by the allegiance of all its parts to the British Crown whereas the Netherlands State only knows allegiance to the Netherlands Crown which is hereditary in the House of Orange. Therefore, there could be no question of the absorption of the Netherlands kingdom into any other commonwealth, “but,” said the Minister, “although subordination is unthinkable, the possibility of collaboration is far from being excluded, the question being whether collaboration should be restricted to the British Empire.”

INTERESTS IN THE PACIFIC Dr van Kieffens said there were common interests in the Pacific area with the United States but it was too early to say what attitude America would adopt regarding political and military collaboration with other nations. ‘'lt is conceivable as far as South-East Asia is concerned —where China occupies such an important position—that America’s attitude will not be entirely the same as towards Europe, but even if America is prepared to collaborate with Britain and with us it would still appear to be too early to discuss the way in which this readiness may be implemented.”

AMERICA & RUSSIA In conclusion the Minister said it was to be hoped that, instructed by bitter experience, America would acquire consciousness of the vital American interest in the effective preservation of European peace. “Twice the American people have seen that German aggression in Western Europe means an attack against England and I believe they realise more dearly now that Britain’s fall would place a dagger at the

heart of the United States.” Dr van Kieffens visualised a strong formation in the west, with America, Canada, and the other British Dominions as the arsenal and reservoir of power, England as the base—especially for _ air power—and the Netherlands, Belgium and France as the bridgehead, these countries thus being interdependent. This formidable western bloc could find its counterpart in Russia. Once Japan was defeated Russia’s heart would be protected from the north, east and south by natural frontiers. “But,” said the Minister, “Russia will have to devote full and continued attention. towards the security of its open frontier with Germany. This picture automatically, as it were, brings to the fore the need for the preservation of good relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union.” Thus Dr van Kieffens foresaw the possibility of a long period of guaranteed peace, adding that France must take her place in the circle of Western Powers. Finally he emphasised that the present Netherlands Government in London would not take binding decisions as long as the Netherlands were occupied unless these were absolutely unavoidable. “But,” he said, “I can give you an assurance that, as far as is humanly possible, everything will be left to the free and considered expression of the will of the resurrected Netherlands.”