CAB80-8 — Page 211

མྨཱ,སྶ

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6.

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(a) General lists of those armaments which have

been supplied since the outbreak of the war from French and British sources to the various Balkan countries, together with those supplies already agreed to but not yet despatched, and those which have been asked for but are still under consideration.

(b)

Our respective views on the order of priority

of supply as between the various Balkan States.

The British information required for (a) above can be obtained mainly from the Allied Demands Committee. The British information necessary for (b) above, in the form of a table of the relative strategic importance of countries requiring arms from the United Kingdom, can be obtained from the Deputy Chiefs of Staff Sub-Committee.

7.

Once the above views have been exchanged in the Allied Military Committee, it should be possible to see, firstly, how far in fact there is overlapping and duplication in meeting Balkan demands and, secondly, how far the French and British are together in their respective views of the priority of support to Balkan countries.

8.

It is suggested that the next step might be to endeavour to reach agreement on a joint priority list or, if this is not possible, on separate French and British priority lists, having regard to their several commitments. The considerations governing these would be primarily strategical, and would take into account the extent to which individual States have so far been aided materially, and general information available from the British and French Intelligence Departments of the three Services as to the Balkan countries' existing capabilities of self- defence. We feel that in this latter respect it should not be necessary to embark on detailed examinations of their existing defence equipment, as proposed by the French in paragraph 4 (i) of their note. General views on the relative preparedness of the various Balkan States should suffice.

9.

With the above as a basis, it should then be possible to reach joint agreed views on a future policy which would avoid duplication of supply and thus simplify subsequent maintenance problems.

10.

At this stage it should be possible for the Allied Military Committee to draw up a joint report of recommenda- tions to their respective superiors, putting forward their ideas, necessarily from a military point of view only, on the order of priority of supply which might be approved for the future, and the extent to which France and the United Kingdom might each make itself responsible to individual Balkan States for particular categories of armaments.

11. We appreciate that the priority which should be accorded in the Balkans cannot satisfactorily de determined on military grounds alone. There are considerations of a political nature, of finance, and on economic grounds generally,

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