COMINFORM IS IN “EARNEST WITH TITO”

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 August 1949, Page 6

COMINFORM IS IN “EARNEST WITH TITO”

LONDON, August 24.—“ The Cominform is certainly in earnest in its verbal attacks on Marshall Tito, and may well decide before long to supplement its diplomatic offensive with an irregular but determined military attack,” says the Manchester Guardian. “Marshal Tito’s present enemies by copying the guerrilla tactics which he used so well against the Germans, could cause him a great deal of anxiety without much risk to themselves in Jugoslavia’s mountainous territories.” The Budapest correspondent of The Times says that if the Cominform really believes that it can remove Marshal Tito its best time is now, before the help of the West and Jugoslavia’s own efforts bear fruit. He adds that Budapest—a great city .for rumours —is full of them now about Soviet divisions from Rumania and Bulgaria on. Jugoslavia’s frontiers. “Whitehall regards Russia’s press campaign for Marshal Tito’s ‘execution’ as an incitement to Soviet agents,” says the Daily Express. “Evidence of several unsuccessful plots to kill Marshal Tito has already reached London. “It is understood that the British Foreign Secretary (Mr Ernest Bevin) and the United States Ambassador in London (Mr Lewis Douglas) yesterday discussed Soviet threats to Marshal Tito. They studied evidence of Marshal Tito. They studied evidence of organised infiltration into Jugoslavia and alleged moves to start a civil war. British and United States diplomats in Belgrade are reporting frequently.” In Moscow the Soviet news agency Tass today quoted the Social Christian newspaper La Metropole, of Antwerp, as saying: “Marshal Tito is realising a British and American plan in the Balkans. The first stage of this plan is the isolation of Albania by land and sea from the countries of the people’s democracies and the Soviet Union. The realisation of this plan will be speeded up after the conclusion of the peace treaty with Austria and the withdrawal from Hungary and Rumania of the Soviet troops still remaining.”