NO MYSTERY SEEN IN AGREEMENT

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 126, 21 February 1941, Page 7

NO MYSTERY SEEN IN AGREEMENT

Bulgaria And Turkey BELATED GESTURE BY NAZIS’ VICTIM t British Official Wireless.) I Received February 20, 7 p.m.) RUGBY, February 19. Discussing Hitler’s reliance on intimidation to gain his ends in the Balkans. “The Times’’ says that by dint of such methods he conquered, occupied and garrisoned Rumania, and the same tactics are now being applied to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria, however, has shown a tougher spirit than Rumania. “Her subjugation is still far from complete, and neither King Boris nor his people have yet resigned themselves to their late. The unity of Bulgaria remains unbroken. But it is to be feared that the pact of friendship with Turkey is, on the Bulgarian side, not so much a gesture of resistance as a last-minute cry of agonized despair. "Yugoslavia is less directly threatened, but on long view her position is scarcely less hazardous,” "The Times” continues. "There are, however, limits set to these present Nazi tactics. "They are effective only against the weak timl unresisting. They have proved unavailing against the triumphant resistance of the Greeks, against the solid determination of the Turks and against the smashing blows delivered by General Wavell's armies in North and East Africa. “It is still uncertain whether Hitler will choose a war on two fronts, which he hits up to now absolutely eschewed, by pressing his operations in the Balkans beyond the scope of intimidating the weak. But it is also uncertain how long th l ' choice of the initiative will remain in his hands. The war of nerves is. as Hitler well knows, a prelude to preparation for a war in which his resources will be taxed Io Hie utmost.”

Referring to Hie Turkish-Bulgaria agreements. "The Times” says il was not the fault of Turkey that no agreement was reached at a Hine when it might still have been tin effective basis for the salvation of Bulgaria, and it adds that the moral of co-oper-ation in time is once more inescapable. The "Daily Telegraph" says: "There is no mystery about Hie negotiations between Turkey ami Bulgaria. They were begun and carried on with the full approval of the British Government in order to save Bulgarin from the enslavement to Nazism which Rumania Ims chosen.”