§ 14. Mr. Arthur Hendersonasked the Prime Minister whether he can now state what steps His Majesty's Government propose to take in respect of the recent Austro-German agreement?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is at present impossible for His Majesty's Government to estimate the real effect of the agreement reached between the Austrian and German Chancellors at Berchtesgaden on 12th February, but they are continuing to follow developments with close attention. In this connection they have noted with great interest the speech delivered by Herr von Schuschnigg on 24th February. Meanwhile I should, perhaps, add that the measures so far taken by the Austrian Government in consequence of the discussions at Berchtesgaden on 12th February do not appear, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, to constitute a breach of the obligations which Austria undertook in the Treaty of St. Germain and the Geneva Protocol of 1922, and it does not appear, therefore, that any action on the part of His Majesty's Government is called for on that account in the existing circumstances.