Progress in Prague In recent weeks there has been a
noticeable improvement in the position in Czechoslovakia. Discussions of the Nationality Statute have made considerable progress, and by June 12th the Statute should be ready for presentation to Parliament. Unless Germany abandons the more con- ciliatory attitude she has adopted lately, the greatest difficulty the Czechoslovak Government has to face is that of putting the Statute into practice. The improvement in relations between Czechoslovakia and Germany can be seen in the resumption, at Germany's request, of the trade discussions which followed the annexation of Austria ; it is encouraging that Germany should be anxious to settle, quickly and amicably, the commercial difficulties caused by the Anschluss. The internal position of the Czechoslovak Government has been considerably strengthened by the National Coalition's assumption of collective responsibility for the future acts of the Cabinet. Those who do not wish -Czechoslovakia to go the way of Austria have sometimes feared that certain sections of the Agrarians would play the same part as Seyss- Inquart and his followers in Vienna ; and the danger will certainly grow as Germany's economic pressure increases. For the moment, however, the Coalition continues to represent the national unity created in Czechoslovakia by the crisis which she has yet to overcome.
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