Soviet leader takes limelight in prelude to Tito’s funeral

Press, 9 May 1980, Page 6

Soviet leader takes limelight in prelude to Tito’s funeral

NZPA-Reuter Belgrade Hie Soviet President (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) yesterday occupied centre stage at the funeral of President Tito after assuring Yugoslavs tnat Moscow wanted to see r . country united and flourishing. . Mr Brezhnev, who is 73, confounding suggestions that ill-health prevented him from handling high-pressure diplomacy, joined other world leaders in paying tribute to the Yugoslav national hero before flying back to Moscow today. In the 36 hours after his arrival the Kremlin chief had held talks with new Polish Prime Minister (Mr Edward Babiuch) and the Inter- ] national Olympic Committee; president (Lord Killanin) ini Moscow and met Yugoslav i leaders ..nd the North Ko-| rean President (Mr Kinr Il Sung) in Belgrade. i Soviet sources said he would have two more meet-, ings before lining up behind,’ the coffin of President Tito! with other heads of State' and government, for the funeral due to begin late last! evening N.Z. time.. There was no immediate: Information on who Mr 1 Brezhnev would see, but:

speculation centred on a possible encounter with Chi-1 nese leade - . Chairman Huai Guofeng, who 1 ts also gone; to Belgrade for the funeral. I In 1969. the Soviet Prime Minister (Mr Alexei Kos-1 ygin) went directly toPeking from the Hanoi! T! £>T»«3 1 \7l rt rt A I

funeral of the Vietnamese President (Mr Ho Chi Minh)! for talks with Chou En-lai, I who was then Prime Minister, which brought a temp Or-; ary improvement in Sino-So-] Viet relations. It seemed unlikely that Mr Brezhnev would meet Vice-; President Walter Mondale of; the United States, represent-] ing President Carter who,! American spokesmen are! saying, decided against I

- attending the funeral to t; avoid sharing the same stage ,’jwith the Kremlin chief. 2, Yugoslav officials were re)'ported to be dismaved at Mr s [Carter’s absence and West ; i European diplomats said the i‘Americans had been up-] ■ staged by the Russians. Ini ,j Washington, American offi-j ticials were irritated by the j 11 criticism, saying it was “car- ‘ <ping,” and denied that Chan-j •icellor Helmut Schmidt ofj ■ (West Germany had sent ai I]personal telegram urging the! President to change his] [mind. [ ;] Vice-President Mondale ’ said after flying in to repre- • sent President Carter that l the United States remained ■ I pledged to support Yugoslavia’s independence, territojrial integrity and unity. Yugoslav officials believed his •reiteration of assurances ■given by Mr Carter after iTito’s death may have been] intended to offset their dis-i may at the President’s ab-l ,’sence. I Mr Brezhnev, who has; (been in uncertain health for! several years, looked fit] iwhen he arrived at Belgrade, lAirport after a 24 hour] (flight from Moscow and; (later visited President Tito’s! (catafalque in the Yugoslav] ■ Parliament building. > ! At the airport he was j heard to tell Yugoslav offi-! cials that he had come “be- j 1 ] cause of the enormous re-i 1 'spect I had for President] j Tito and because of our per- ] Lsonal friendship and our re- * ■ lationo with Yugoslavia.” ’ j Later he told Yugoslavia’s .

new collective leadership that President Tito’s death had caused “a sense of. deep loss to the Soviet people.” In the wake of the Yugoslav leader's death, the Soviet media has set aside the sometimes bitter differences, dividing the two Communist] States even into President! Tito’s final days and has] emphasised friendship and | co-operation between them, i

i Mr Brezhnev told Presijdent Lazar Kolisevksi and I the Communist Party leader, (Stefan Doronjski, that the | late leader was respected in (the Soviet Union “as a great I friend of our country who |gave much effort to [strengthening Yugoslav-So-viet ties.”

I The Soviet leadership, Mr ‘Brezhnev declared, “wants ian atmosphere of mutual ] understanding, trust, frank* iness and absolute equality to ] reign always in Soviet-Yu-igoslav relations.” ■ In a clear reference to Western suggestions that Moscow could threaten Yugoslav independence in the post-Tito era, he added: “Many years of co-operation show that in the Soviet Union the peoples of Yugoslavia have a true and reliable friend.

“The Soviet people have always wanted and want still to see fraternal Yugoslavia a single, united and flourishing country successfully building socialism.”

I Mr Brezhnev’s meeting (with the North Korean President and Communist Party [ chief, Kim II Sung came as ia surprise. Relations between the two countries [have been frigid since ] Pyongyang implicitly criticised both the 1978 Vietnam|ese intervention in Kampuchea and the recent Soviet move into Afghanistan.

An official Soviet stateI merit on the meeting suggested that Mr Brezhnev and Mr Kim recorded their differences and made no headway in resolving them.

For Tito’s funeral an estimated half a million people 'were expected to line the 4km route when the body, was borne on a slow-moving; gun carriage through the flag-decked centre of the , city to the leafy hill where |he was to be buried in the 'grounds of his former resilience, surrounded by (flowers- which he raised and (tended himself.