April 15, 1955
INDEPENDENT AUSTRIA: Paris, 14 – According to telegrams from Moscow, talks have ended there between the USSR’s Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov and Austrian Chancellor Julius Raab on drafting a peace treaty with Austria. The Soviet Union has recognized that Austria can be declared an independent state. The two men reached an accord as the basis on which to draft a treaty and put an end to the occupation of Austrian territory by the four powers (USA, USSR, Great Britain and France). DIRECTIVE FROM JULES ROMAINS: Paris, 14 – The radical newspaper L’Aurore has published a lengthy article by the French academic Jules Romains on Cyprus, in which he says among other things: «Cyprus is Greek territory and inhabited by Greeks. No one doubts its right to unite subsequently with Greece if its population continues to demand it. The word ‘subsequently’ does not mean delaying tactics, but simply means that the island will be returned to Greece when the general situation in Europe permits. We are not in a position to expel yet again the true Greek patriots who are interested in the future of Greece, which will remain free only as long as the West is able to defend and maintain its current positions.»
