East Block Summit In Bucharest ?

Press, Issue 29236, 21 June 1960, Page 15

East Block Summit In Bucharest ?

(Rec. 11 p.m.) BUCHAREST, June 20. Mr Khrushchev is leading a group of world Communist leaders gathered today at the opening of the Rumanian Communist Party’s third congress. Diplomatic observers believe the leaders, from 41 Communist parties, including China, will take the opportunity for an Eastern summit conference.

British United Press quoted Western diplomats as saying that Mr Khrushchev had presided over a private meeting, described as a “Soviet summit,” in Bucharest. The first secretaries of the Communist Parties of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Rumania attended. It is understood that topics for discussion were the world situation in the light of the failure of the Paris summit, including the attitude of the satellite countries to it, “difficulties” within the Communist camp, Berlin, and the question of a separate peace treaty with East Germany.

The leaders may also have dealt with a revival of the plan for a Balkan alliance, including Greece and Turkey, and more effective ways of penetration in South America and the new African countries.

Mr Khrushchev will probably speak tomorrow and Western reporters will be allowed to hear the speech, officials said. They are also permitted to attend today’s opening session of the congress, the first since 1955. It will debate Rumania’s plans for the next 15 years, in the form of a six-year plan ending in 1965 and a long-term plan ending in 1975:

In Belgrade it was reported today that Jugoslavs fear new attacks on their country’s “revisionism” may be launched during the party congress. Jugoslav anxiety at the possible imminence of a new onslaught on Belgrade was heightened by the presence in Mr Khrushchev’s suite in Bucharest of two out of the three authors of-a strong antiJugoslav attack last month—the first in the Soviet Union for about a year.

The two —Mr P. Pospelov and Mr Y. Antropov, senior officials of the Soviet Communist Partyaccused the Jugoslav Communist leadership of “extending revisionist views.”