Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1946. NOTES TO YUGOSLAVIA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 268, 24 August 1946, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1946. NOTES TO YUGOSLAVIA

Both Britain and the United States have been obliged to adress strong notes to Yugoslavia in the last few days in an endeavour to halt the tactics being employed by the present Government. Action by the United States was the outcome of attacks made by Yugoslav fighters on American planes crossing Yugoslav territory, but the British note was prompted by a series of incidents which arc regarded in Britain as part of a campaign of open opposition to the Allied Military Government in the western zone of Venezia Guilia. The campaign has been accompanied by provocative activities and incidents in Zone A, for which responsibility can be traced to the Yugoslav authorities. These manoeuvres, which have been intensified as a result of Yugoslav dissatisfaction with decisions of the Council of Foreign Ministers —decisions wherein Mr Molotov concurred—concerning the future frontier line between Italy and Yugoslavia and the establishment of an international regime for the area of Trieste, found expression in a Yugoslav note.to Britain and the U.S.A. making a series of extravagant new charges against the Allied Military Governments. In order to make a public exposure of the facts, both Britain and the United States decided to release the text of notes sent to Yugoslavia, and these were published this week. It is clear from the statements published that the Allied authorities have not received from the Yugoslavs the degree of co-oper-ation which they were entitled to expect. On the contrary, the Yugoslav Government has by every means in its power, and particularly by a provocative campaign in the press and on the wireless, encouraged the proYugoslav population in Trieste and Zone A., both Slovene and Italian, to obstruct the Allied Military Government in the performance. of its duties, to promote industrial discontent, to hinder the educational programme and to intimidate those inhabitants of the area who are not in favour ot its incorporation into Yugoslavia. In spite of attention having been directed to various incidents, and in spite of an expressed readiness to investigate alleged complaints, the Yugoslavs have done nothing to end the anti-Allied campaign. The time has now come for action, and it is not surprising that both Britain and the United States have made up their minds to put an end to the present situation. Behind the present campaign can be seen the hand of the Soviet, and it may well be that the campaign is linked with the demand for a revision of the Montreaux Convention governing the control and defence of the Dardanelles.