Poland and the Soviet Union The " friendly agreement "
reached by Poland and the Soviet Union this week has caused much surprise and speculation. It reaffirms the non-aggression pact signed in 1025 and in force until 1945, and provides for an increase in Soviet-Polish trade and a " positive " settlement of all matters of dispute. It is too early to say what may be the result of this unexpected improvement in Soviet-Polish relations. Its causes are to be found in Poland's disagree- ment with Germany over the fate of Ruthenia, and in Poland's and the Soviet Union's common interest in the spread of Ukrainian propaganda from an autonomous Ruthenian State. It would be interesting to know what attitude Rumania will adopt towards the agreement. It seems clear that, though Russian opinion is reserved and somewhat sceptical, this new development in her foreign relations conflicts with rumours that she intends either to isolate herself from Europe or to seek a rapprochement with Germany and possibly to revive the Treaty of- Rapallo. Polish opinion asserts _that the agreement is a proof of a common defence against a German drive against the Ukraine. It is a curious and illuminating comment on the pro-German tendency of Colonel Beck's foreign policy in the last five years that at this moment of Germany's triumph he should be driven into friendship with the Soviet Union.
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