TENSION IN THE BALKANS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 1 July 1943, Page 5

TENSION IN THE BALKANS

Serious Rioting in Greece PARTIAL EVACUATION OF BUCHAREST Great Naval Activity in Mediterranean London, June 30. Paris radio says great naval activity is going on the Mediterranean with British and American warships constantly on the move. A German news agency says the Rumanian Government ordered partial evacuation of Bucharest. The N.B.C.’s Ankara correspondent says the evacuation involves non-essential members of the population and is probably due to fears that the city will soon be attacked. Serious rioting has broken out in important towns in Greece, including Athens, Salonika, Larissa and Volo. They are the direct result of Allied air raids on Axis aerodromes in Greece. Axis forces met the rioters in the streets and arrested many hundreds, scores of whom were shot. Rhallys, the Greek quisling Premier, issued a proclamation threatening to suppress mercilessly unrest in certain localities. The Ankara correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says a German motorised division has taken up a position throughout the Salonika peninsula*

AXIS GENERAL STAFF FORMED The formation of an Axis general staff comprising ten German and two Italian generals, and one Bulgarian general, as part of the plan to meet an Allied invasion is reported by the “Daily Telegraph’s” Ankara correspondent. This decision was taken at a recent conference near Salonika at which those present included the Axis Commander-in-Chief in the Balkans, General Lohr, the Commander of the Italian forces and Professor Filoff, Premier of Bulgaria. Measures taken in Bulgaria include the creation of forbidden zones in key areas. These areas are Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Rusa and Plovdiv. Forbidden zones extend for a 12-mile radius around each town. Varna and Burgas are Bulgaria’s chief Black Sea ports, Rusa is a leading Danube port, and Plovdiv an important town on the Sofia-Turkey railway. PATRIOT ACTIVITY Axis anxiety is increased by the fact that patriot activity in the Balkans shows no signs of collapsing. The latest punitive expedition comprising German Storm Troops, Croat quislings and Bulgarians against Serb guerrillas operating in Yugoslavia failed. However, guerrillas were driven out of a number of districts and forced to retire to the mountains. The guerrillas’ position after two years’ resistance must be becoming desperate. German strategy against guerrillas is to throw them back as far as possible from lines of communication thus assuring a measure of safety for military transports now continually rolling south-eastwards. Latest reports indicate that guerrillas in the Herzegovina region cut the Sarajevo-Uzice railway near a bridge over the Drina river. In fighting in the last 40 days German losses considerably exceeded the guerrillas’ casualties, which were 2000 killed and wounded. —P.A. WILL ROME BE BOMBED? REFERENCE IN HOUSE OF COMMONS London, June 30. -Mr H W. Butcher (L., Nat.) in the House of Commons asked Mr Eden, Foreign Secretary, whether he would endeavour to obtain from the Italian Government guarantees that by an early date Rome should be divested of all military and other installations likely to assist the Axis war effort so that the city might be regarded as an open town. Mr Eden replied that the Government had not approached the Italian Government with regard to the bombing of Rome and did not intend to do so. “We would not hesitate to bomb Rome to the best of our ability and as heavilv as possible if the course of the war should render such action convenient and helpful. I think it would be in the interests of humanity if Mussolini were to realise that the best thing he can do for his country is to accept unconditional surrender on the terms offered to him.”