NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE situation in the Balkans continues to cause great uneasiness. We give below a précis of Count Berchtold's speech to the Delegation, and since the utterance of his warn- ings it cannot be said that the situation has improved. That the Great Powers, now as always, are most sincerely anxious to prevent a conflagration in the Balkans we do not doubt. We also feel sure that they will put every possible pressure upon Bulgaria not to move, and if Bulgaria does not move the com- bination which she has made with Servia, Montenegro, and Greece will have no effect. Her confederates cannot move without her. The real difficulty is whether the Great Powers have sufficient leverage to hold Bulgaria in check—provided that her people decide to seize the opportunity, or what they think is the opportunity, for helping their co-religionists in Macedonia and for obtaining very considerable territorial aggrandisement.
