BRIM NOTE TO FINLAND
REGRET AND WARNING EFFECT OF WAR WITH RUSSIA WILLINGNESS TO OVERLOOK CERTAIN THINGS. (Recd. 6.30 p.m.) Rugby, Sept. 27. It is now possible to make public the text of a message which, as has already been indicated, was sent by His Majesty’s Government to the Finnish Government recently concerning British-Finnish relations. The text is as follows: “So long as Finland is in alliance with Germany carrying on an aggressive war against, and on, the territory of an ally of Great Britain, His Majesty’s Government is bound to consider Finland to be a member of the Axis, since it is impossible to separate the war which Finland is waging against Russia from the general European war. If, therefore, the Finnish Government persists in invading purely Russian territory, the situation will arise in which Great Britain will be forced to treat Finland as an open enemy, not only while the war lasts, but also when peace comes to be made. “His Majesty’s Government greatly regrets such a development, in view of the friendship which has always existed between Great Britain and Finland. Although the Finnish Government expelled the British Minister from Helsingfors, His Majesty’s Government is ready to overlook this act of discourtesy and will welcome an early restoration to normal diplomatic intercourse between the two countries. But the Finnish Government must realise that for this to be possible the first essential is that Finland should terminate her war against Russia and evacuate all territory beyond her frontiers of 1939. As soon as this has been accomplished His Majesty’s Government will be ready, for its part, to study sympathetically any proposals for the improvement of relations between Groat Britain and Finland, even though the continued presence of German armies on Finnish soil might render impossible at first restoration of lull diplomatic relations and a resumption of overseas trade on the same basis as existed so long as Finland was neutral.”—B.O.W.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 229, 29 September 1941, Page 5
Word Count
322BRIM NOTE TO FINLAND Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 229, 29 September 1941, Page 5
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