§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the present status of Memel, and of the Memel Statute, of 8th May 1924, in the light of recent developments, and whether their view is shared by their co-signatories of that statute—namely, the governments of France, Italy and Japan.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Brabazon of Tara)Memel (today Klaipeda) has, subject to certain provisions, formally belonged to Lithuania since 1924 (except for a brief period in 1939 when it was ceded to Germany). Following the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940, we considered Memel, with the rest of Lithuania to bede facto, but not de jure, part of the Soviet Union. Our position has not changed since then. We have had no recent discussion on this matter with the co-signatories of the Memel Statute.