§ 6. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the view of His Majesty's Government, the elimination of friction and suspicion between the various countries of Eastern Europe, which is one of the cardinal factors in the field of progress, can best be effected by the conclusion of an eastern pact between Poland, Russia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic States, and Finland?
§ Mr. EdenI have nothing to add to the very full reply which my Noble Friend gave to a question on this subject asked by the hon. Member on 8th February.
§ Mr. HendersonIs the Foreign Secretary aware that on 1st August, 1935, the First Lord of the Admiralty stated that the conclusion of an Eastern Pact was a cardinal factor in the general European situation, and that in a recent reply the Under-Secretary of State confined his statement to saying that the removal of friction and suspicion among the various countries was the cardinal factor; and are we to understand from those two replies that there has been a change in the policy of His Majesty's Government?
§ Mr. HendersonMay we have a definite reply? Is it the policy and the view of His Majesty's Government to-day that the conclusion of an Eastern Pact is a cardinal factor in the settlement of those outstanding European problems?
§ Mr. EdenWe would welcome any arrangement, either in Eastern Europe or anywhere else, if it would assist to remove friction and suspicion.
§ Mr. HendersonMay we have a straight answer?