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RUSSIA AND NORWAY
Offer of Pact Will be
Probably Rejected
. "The Aee" Correspondent in Oslo
Reports in political circles indicate that Norway
will probably reject the Russ ian offer of a non-aggressioji
pact. ..
Speed of the Russian move
following the Norwegian reply
to the previous Note empha
sises Russia's desire to break up
the northern flank of the pro
posed Atlantic Pact before any
solid results are achieved.
Belief that Norway will re
ject Moscow overtures is
strengthened when it is re
called that at the time Russia
offered a pact to Finland last
March the Norwegian Foreign
Minister (M. Lange) told the
Norwegian Parliament that if
Norway was offered a similar
pact, she would refuse it.
If Norway refuses there is
little doubt that the Russians
will quote this as proof of the
"aggressive motives" imputed to
her in the original Note.
Possible Russian action
which may follow such a re
fusal is causing uneasiness in
Sweden.
One possibllty is that Russia
may then offer Sweden a non-
aggression pact. So far, how
ever, no similar note to that
sent to Norway has been sent
to Stockholm, according to the
Sewdish Foreign Office.
The fact that M. Lange has
taken a copy of the latest Rus
sian Note to Washington sug
gests that Norwegians intend
to discuss the position fully
there, as well as in Oslo, before
drafting a reply.
Today Norwegian Cabinet is
meeting, and a special com
mittee of Parliament, upon
which the Communist party is
1 hot represented, will also meet
1 to discuss the situation.
Authoritative quarters In
Washington specifically de-
nied the charge Implied in
Russia's latest Note to Nor
way that Norway will be
compelled to hand over bases
to United States or her allies
in return for membership In
a North Atlantic Pact.
They said no such prop
ulsion was 'contained in the
draft text of the treaty, which
was purely a political docu
ment, and involved no detailed
physical defence arrange
ments. "
Authoritative diplomatic -taty
formants, nevertheless, at
tached considerable import
ance to the new Russian Note,
which offered a non-aggres
sion pact to Norway even as a
Norwegian mission headed by
Dr. Halvard Lange was —on
its way to United States ...
to discuss participation in . the
North Atlantic Pact. Specific-,
ally, they regarded it as -mark
ing the translation of the so- ,.
called Russian "peace" offen
sive into an all-out attack' on
the pact.
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