§ 11. Lord SCONEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will in- 7 quire of the Greek Government their intentions regarding the payment of the interest, now overdue, on the 1924 Greek refugee loan, which was issued under the auspices of the League of Nations?
§ Sir J. SIMONHis Majesty's Government have several times addressed strong representations to the Greek Government. Furthermore, in the statement which the representative of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom made to the Council of the League of Nations on Saturday he expressed on behalf of His Majesty's Government their deep regret that the Greek Government should have failed to carry out their solemn obligations undertaken towards their creditors, the League, and the Governments represented on the International Financial Commission. A similar statement was also made on behalf of the French Government. The Greek representative made a statement, explaining the difficult situation of Greece, and informed the council that the Greek Government intend to lay proposals before the bondholders shortly.
The Council then adopted the following resolution:
The council, conscious of its special responsibilities in the case of loans issued under the auspices of the League,Desires to impress on the Greek Government the necessity of making every effort to comply with its obligations, and in this connection refers to the resolution which the council adopted on l5th April.The council feels bound to emphasise that a failure to have due regard to their international financial obligations on the part of those countries which have benefited from loans issued under the auspices of the League must have the gravest consequences, not only on the credit of such countries, but also on the ability of the League to render collective assistance in the future.This was accepted by the Greek representative who expressed the earnest hope of his Government that they might as soon as possible be in a position to resume full payments on their external debt.