RUSSIA MOVING NOW TO BRING TITO TO HEEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 August 1948, Page 6

RUSSIA MOVING NOW TO BRING TITO TO HEEL

LONDON, August 11. The impression is growing in London that the quarrel between Russia and Jugoslavia is entering a new phase, and that the Soviet is in the process of organising a system of ; economic sanctions against Jugoslavia with the object of bringing Marshal Tito to heel. Albania, which had the closest possible ties with Jugoslavia, recently expelled her trade representatives i and severed trade relations, while Bulgaria, after some preliminary hesitation, has also virtually severed’ relations. This was followed by the announcement that Jugoslavia would buy a large quantity of oil from the Anglo-Iranian Company, which is taken as a plain indication that Rumania, under Russian pressure, has cut off Marshal Tito’s oil supplies. The latest evidence of the trend of events comes from Prague, which it was announced this week that Jugoslavia would “have great difficulty,” in obtaining import permits from Czechoslovakia. Simultaneously, the official Czech travel agency announced that all organised tours to Jugoslavia had been stopped. If these developments continue, Marshal Tito will be placed in a well nigh untenable position. At present the great bulk of Jugoslavia’s trade, ■both inwards and outwards, is with countries of the Eastern bloc, and the Russians are in a position to hamstring his army by cutting off supplies of heavy munitions. • i Correspondents attending the Danubian conference in Belgrade report plain signs of friction between the Russians and the Jugoslavs. Alexander Werth, writing in the Manchester Guardian, states that behind the scenes Mr Vyshinsky and his delegation have been “hinting darkly that Jugoslavia has it coming to her.”