The French Demarche
Everything that has happened since agreement on West European union and defence was reached at the London and Paris meetings, and every Soviet approach, whether ostensibly less or more menacing. emphasises that the policy of 'ratify first' is the right and only one. Only if a 'parallel' progress on ratification and new talks with Moscow can comprehend that principle can it be of any service. M. Mendes-France accepted this position when he told the United Nations recently that he had selected next May as the time for a possible four- power meeting in Paris because by then the agreements would have been ratified—' as is certainly the case with France.' Thus it is fair to see French enquiries in Moscow on the prospects of an Austrian treaty, with the accompanying suggestion of an extended time-limit for the withdrawal of troops, as a move designed to satisfy both the French Premier's flair for the slightly audacious initiative and his calculations of the mood of the Assembly which has to implement his undcrtaking on ratification. Moscow will naturally hope to turn the gesture in the opposite direction. That is the danger, and the more openly it is seen the greater are the chances that M. Mendes- France's latest move will come off.
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