STATE OF ALARM IN BALKANS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 31 December 1940, Page 5

STATE OF ALARM IN BALKANS

GERMAN TROOPS MOVE TO BULGARIAN FRONTIER HUNGARY IN TURMOIL EXTREME TENSION [U.P.A.-By Electric Telegraph— CoDyrieht) LONDON, 29th December. The Balkans have been thrown to-lnight into a state of alarm and tension by reports and rumours of German troop movements. Some of these have been substantiated, notwithstanding the strict censorship both in Hungary and Rumania which has blotted out many details and estimates of numbers. The Associated Press correspondent in Sofia reports that advance guards of German troops moved up to the Bulgarian frontier to-day, and could be seen taking up positions and occupying barracks on the Rumanian side of the ice-blocked Danube, which constitutes the frontier between Bulgaria and Rumania. Tension is growing in Bulgaria, King Boris conferred with the Premier, and there is speculation in Sofia about the German intentions. Hungary is also in a slate of turmoil. Count Teleki, the Hungarian Minister, of Agriculture, resigned’ because he differed with the Government about German troop movements through Hungary. The censorship authorities suggested that it should not be said that the Hungarian railways are under German management. Notwithstanding the censorship estimates of the number of German troops moving from Hungary into Rumania have risen from the original 300,000 to 600,000. It is also reported that some German troops may remain in Hungary. It is reported that there are no signs of German plans to dominate Hungary as they do Rumania, but the hold which the Germans have on the railways indicates that they will maintain control of the means of transport till the completion of whatever scheme they have in mind. IRON GUARD MEETING Reports from Budapest say that considerable nervousness and tension have been caused in the Hungarian capital by a meeting of 5000 armed Iron Guards at the Rumanian town of Klauseriburg, near the new Hungarian border. At this meeting the Iron Guards openly denounced the Vienna award, under which Rumania was compelled by the Axis Powers to hand over a large part of Transylvania to Hungary, and passed a resolution declaring guerrilla warfare against Hungary til Transylvania is fully restored to Rumania. Arms were distributed to the legionaries without interference by the authorities.

The meeting was attended by a special delegation from the central committee of the Iron Guards sent specially from Bucharest with the approval of Hore Sima, the Iron Guard leader.

This news is yet another sign of the growing unrest in south-eastern Europe. Nazi aggression and declaring faith in the invincibility of the democracies have been distributed in the streets of Rumania. After referring to the recent frontier adjustments, the pamphlets go on to express a burning faith in the Allied cause and the conviction that only a British victory can free the oppressed peoples of Europe. EXPLANATION FOR TROOPS The unrest in Rumania may explain why more German troops are said to have been sent to Rumania in the last few days. It is thought that Germany may have found it expedient to increase her garrison in Rumania as a precautionary measure rather than through a desire to embark on a new and rash adventure elsewhere. This is certainly the view put forward by a semi-official Yugoslav newspaper, which says that the unsettled position of the new regime in Rumania is sufficient reason for Germany to safeguard the political developments of the country. This explanation may account for the drastic cuts made in the Rumanian railway services similar to those of a few days ago in Hungary. The Germans may well need all the trains they can get to send troops into Rumania. Other suggestions have been made, of course, to explain the curtailment of railway traffic, as well as the rather convenient official explanation about the weather. It has been suggested that the railways may be needed to carry oil from Rumania to Germany and Italy, as the other alternative route, the Danube, is now frozen over. In any case. the disorganisation which these restrictions are bound to bring in Rumania is not likely to add to the popularity of German methods. There are clear signs of a revival of national feeling in Rumania and this is recognised not only by Germany but by Hungary, which has become uneasy lest frontier incidents and unrest caused by the Iron Guard should result in German orders to hand back Transjdvania to Rumania.