Consolidating Eastern Europe
b h The luncheon given by Dr. Benes on Monday in honour of King Peter of Yugoslavia is of very considerable symbolic importance, for it marks, particularly in the light of the speeches delivered by the President and the King, a definite contact etween te projected Polish-Czechoslovak confederation and is more than merely projected, for the agreement creating it has been actually framed, and was signed at the Foreign Office under Mr. Eden's auspices, and with the British Government's warm approval, by the Prime Ministers of the two countries last week, though ratification may be left till after the war. The Polish-
Czechoslovak negotiations, though they began earlier, have not got quite as far, but there is no doubt about their being carried through. (In both cases, it is necessary to note, what appears to be in question is confederation, a union of two independent Governments, not federation, which would involve A joint Parlia- ment, overruling the national Parliaments.) The case for both unions is overwhelming. Small States have had tragically impressed on them the hopelessness of trying to stand alone in Europe today. The case for some extension of either union— by the inclusion perhaps of Austria in the one case, and con- ceivably of Bulgaria in the other—is equally strong, and so is the case for some interlocking of the two, such as the speeches at Monday's lunch suggested, at least by implication. Czecho- slovakia and Yugoslavia were close associates in the Little Entente, which served many useful purposes till forces too strong for it disrupted it, and their renewed association would be an effective factor of stability in Eastern Europe, the more so since each of them would both recognise and welcome the political and military predominance of Russia in that area.
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