§ 2. Professor Savoryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in view of the fact that Eastern Galacia has never been in the possession of Russia, what evidence he has that the inhabitants to the east of the so-called Curzon line have any desire to be incorporated in Russia.
§ Mr. EdenMy hon. Friend and the House are no doubt aware of the strength of the Ukrainian national movement which has existed for many years in this territory but this is clearly not a matter on which His Majesty's Government can be expected to have detailed, factual and up-to-date evidence.
§ Professor SavoryIs not the right hon. Gentleman bound by the Atlantic Charter to consult these populations before transferring them?
§ Mr. EdenMy hon. Friend is well aware that this is not purely a Polish-Russian question, but also very much a Ukrainian question. I have not factual up-to-date information on that, though I know there is a large Ukrainian population in this territory.
§ Mr. StokesHow did the Government arrive at their decision, if they had not sufficient factual information?
§ Mr. EdenAs regards the Ukrainian majority, there is, as far as I know, no dispute. If the hon. Member wishes to debate the matter further, I will gladly do so next week.
§ Major-General Sir Alfred KnoxIs not this purely a surrender to power politics?
§ 4. Professor Savoryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the number of the Polish inhabitants of Lvov; what proportion they bear to the population of the city as a whole; and if it is proposed to modify the Curzon line in respect of this city.
§ Mr. EdenAs regards the first part of the Question, the latest available figures are those of the Polish census of 1931. This gave the number of Polish speaking inhabitants of the city of Lvov as 198,200 or 64 per cent. of the total population at that time. It is impossible to make any estimate of the present day figures but it would be unwise to assume that they bear any close relationship to those of 1931. It is also necessary to recall that the city of Lvov has always been a predominantly Polish island in the midst of a predominantly non-Polish countryside. This is clear from the fact that in 1920, at the time when the Peace Conference was studying the question of Eastern Galicia, it was estimated that the population of the area lying between the so-called Lines A and B which included the city of Lvov, contained a population of rather less than 1,500,000 inhabitants, of whom more than half were Ukrainians, a little over a quarter Poles and the rest Jews.
As regards the last part of the Question, the views of the three major Allies on this matter have been expressed in the declaration issued by the Crimea Conference to which I have nothing at present to add.
§ Professor SavoryIs my right hon. Friend not aware that the genuine Russian population of Lvov is less than a half per cent?
§ Mr. EdenAs I explained before, and as my hon. Friend knows very well, this is not a Russian-Polish problem but largely a Ukrainian problem and the question is whether or not the new arrangement will create more Ukrainian unity than there was before. My hon. Friend knows the difficulties that there were between the Poles and the Ukrainians in this area between the two wars.
§ Mr. PetherickIs my right hon. Friend not under the misapprehension of assuming that the Ukrainians are Russians?