JUGOSLAV TROOPS ‘ON VISIT’

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33493, 26 March 1974, Page 11

JUGOSLAV TROOPS ‘ON VISIT’

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) BELGRADE, March 25. A unit of Jugoslav frontier guards has been posted at Koper, near Trieste, in an apparent show of strength in Jugoslavia’s dispute with Italy over Zone “B” of the former free territory of Trieste.

Press reports say that the Jugoslav troops arrived in the northern Adriatic port town yesterday “on a visit,” and were welcomed by thousands of people as they marched through the streets.

An unconfirmed report says that the troops are equipped with tanks. The dispute, held in cold storage for nearly 20 years since Zone “B” was recognised, de facto, as Jugoslav territory under the London Agreement in 1954, flared up again earlier this month, when the Italian Government said in a Note to Belgrade that Jugoslav sovereignty had never been extended to the 200-square-miles area of the zone.

Italy has so far refused to give de jure recognition. The Note, delivered after the posting of signs in the area, of which Koner is the centre, saying that it is Jugoslav territory, provoked sharp reaction from the Jugoslav Government and press, which accused Italy of threatening Jugoslav territorial integrity.