BALKAN SPOILS

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 July 1941, Page 6

BALKAN SPOILS

L BULGARIA AND ITALY. E LONDON, July 22. - “The Times” says that Turkisn political circles are drawing attention to ■ the visit of M. Filoff and M. Popolff, ? Bulgaria’s Prime and Foreign Minis- ! ters, to Rome alter the mobilisation of 1 the Bulgarian ■forces. The visit, it is 1 believed, aims to settle Itahan-Bul-Parian differences over the sharing oi : the Greek and Jugoslav spoils. 1 Italy desires'to create a huge Alban- ! ia, comprising large parts of Jugoslav ' and Greek Macedonia over which Bulgaria is also advancing claims. Some compromise may be reached in the Rome conversations. The use of force is out of the question, but the Bulgarians may have considered that arguments backed by a few divisions are like:!/ to carry more weight. Italy and Bulgaria are also casting covetous glances at Salonika, but Salonika is still under German occupation. Herr Hitler is reluctant to disappoint either Italy or Bulgaria and mav keep Salonika himself. The Turks still do not believe that the Bulgarian divisions concentrated near the Turkish frontier constitute a threat to the Straits, but are watching doings on beyond frontier. PRO-RUSSIAN ARMY. LONDON, July 23. “The Times” says that the internal situation is giving the Bulgarian Government serious misgivings. The overwhelming majority of Bulgarians, quite apart from 200,000 Communists. are pro-Russian, no matter what regime rules in Russia, and the Soviet resistance to German aggression has awakened these pro-Russian feelings, inducing Bulgarians, even army officers, to doubt if Bulgaria has backed the winning horse. This state of mind is producing unpleasant inci- \ dents between Germans and Bulgarians. For example, there was an exchange of insults and stone-throwing when two trains respectively carrying Bulgarian and German soldiers drew up at the same station near Sofia. '