Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Page 520
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LE NORD
stated that complete unanimity
reigned between the Government
and the parliamentary party leaders
with regard to the answer to be
given on behalf of Finland to the
USSR Government, which had
meanwhile been drafted so as to
include a Finnish counter-proposal.
On Oct. 31 the Finnish Delegates
set out again for Moscow to resume
negotiations with the USSR. With
them this time was Mr. Rafael Hak-
karainen in the capacity of official
interpreter.
So far both Finland and the
USSR had maintained the strictest
secrecy regarding the subject-matter
and course of the negotiations. This
silence, however, was unexpectedly
broken by USSR Foreign Commis-
sar Mr. Molotov in his speech be-
fore the Supreme Council on Oct.
31, in which he dealt in detail with
USSR foreign policy and also gave
detailed information about the
USSR demands to Finland. This
abrupt and one-sided revelation of
the subject-matter of the negotia-
tions did not, however, result in
the breaking off of negotiations; the
Finnish Delegates, who were in-
formed of the contents of Mr.
Molotov’s speech before their ar-
rival at the Finnish frontier, con-
tinued their journey and arrived in
Moscow on Nov. 2. Negotiations
were resumed on the evening of the
following day, Nov. 3, the USSR
being represented on this occasion
by Mr. Molotov and Mr. Potemkin,
and Finland by Dr. Paasikivi, Mr.
Tanner and Mr. Hakkarainen. The
talks lasted about an hour, and the
Finnish reply and counter-proposals
were handed over to the USSR re-
presentatives. The following day,
Nov. 4, negotiations were con-
tinued, and this time Mr. Stalin and
Mr. Molotov were present on
behalf of the USSR, and Dr. Paa-
sikivi, Mr. Tanner and Mr. Hak-
karainen on behalf of Finland.
A report of these two-day nego-
tiations was sent to the Finnish
Government by the Delegates, who
remained in Moscow to await
further directives. These directives
were despatched from Helsinki on
Nov. 7; while they were being
drafted the Speaker of the House
and the party leaders were kept
informed of the course of the nego-
tiations and the nature of the new
directives, which received the ap-
proval of the President of the Re-
public on Nov. 7. On receipt of
these directives the Finnish Dele-
gates had a last conference with the
USSR representatives on Nov. 9,
on which occasion the Finnish an-
swer to the USSR proposals was
communicated to Mr. Stalin and
Mr. Molotov. After this meeting the
Finnish Delegates still exchanged
written communications with the
representatives of the USSR Gov-
ernment on Nov. 10 and 11, but
there were no more oral discussions.
The Finnish Delegates and their
assistants set out on their return
journey from Moscow on Nov. 13,
arriving in Helsinki two days later,
or on Nov. 15.