6 JANUARY 1917, Page 9

The most important question of the moment is what will

happen at the Sereth line. Here the Sereth crosses the neck of Rumania at its narrowest point, and as the fortified line reaches nearly to the mountains at one end and to the Danube marshes at the other, it had been hoped that the Rumanians, supported by the Russians, would have a breather here and be able to recover themselves. It seems, however, that the whole position is in danger of being turned as a result of the fighting in the mountains on the Moldavian frontier. Falkenhayn meanwhile is at the bridgeheads at Foscani and Fundeni. If the Germans should have further successes in the mountains, or Falkenhayn should make good his bridgeheads, there would be nothing for it but to abandon the line of the Sereth.