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On Tuesday Sir Edward Grey in an important statement explained

the nature of the Balkan peace to the House of Commons. " We have reached a stage," he said, " at which the Concert of Europe is very firmly established." There was not unanimity among the Powers, but there was no tendency to split into opposing camps. An international Commission was to be temporarily established in Albania with a gendarmerie officered by one of the smaller neutral Powers. As for the JEgean islands, it was essential that none of them should be used as a base for interference on the mainland. British interests, moreover, demanded that none of them should be occupied by one of the Great Powers. The Great Powers had all agreed not to claim any of the islands, and it was "a great thing that this principle had been laid down."

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