740.00/677: Telegram
The Ambassador in Belgium (Davies) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 24—1:35 p.m.]
35. I have received information from a reliable source that the Belgian Government will maintain a strictly neutral and independent attitude in the present crisis, that it will not sign any “common declaration” against Germany nor become a party to any agreement relating to collective security.
Diplomatic representatives of smaller European countries here point out that although an entire week has elapsed since Chamberlain’s speech condemning the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, Great Britain has been unable to establish a unified front even as between the three major powers in comparison with Hitler’s rapid action. It cannot be expected, they urge, that the smaller states adjacent to Germany should join in any common declaration thereby incurring the risk of disaster without very definite commitments and guarantees of specific and effective military and other aid.