THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 1943 BULGARIAN KING'S DEATH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24675, 30 August 1943, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 1943 BULGARIAN KING'S DEATH

The death of King Boris introduces a new element of instability into the already unstable Balkan situation. Bulgaria was one of the few patches of comparatively firm ground in the quaking peninsula and on it the Germans chose to erect their headquarters in South-east Europe. Now the atmosphere of unrest and insecurity pervading Yugoslavia, Greece. Rumania and even Hungary has spread over Bulgaria as well. How Boris met his end is the subject of eontlicting reports. His policy, which stopped just short of a declaration of war on Russia, but carried Bulgaria into the camp of the Soviet's enemies, was bitterly resented by the peasant masses, who comprise 80 per cent of the population. in spite of a succession of Governments unsympathetic to Communism, the peasants have cherished the tradition of Uncle Ivan as their champion and protector. A Russian Minister with his staff is still accredited to Sofia, an extraordinary phenomenon in this centre of Axis intrigue and military activity. So strong is the Communist underground that pro-Axis officials live in the fear of assassination —and some no longer live. Whether this popular element was responsible for Boris' death, as reported in the New York Times, may not be certainly known until after the war. His policy prevailed without serious challenge while Bui-

garia seemed to he backing the winning side, but it has been more and more openly questioned as the Russians fought their way back from Stalingrad to Kharkov. Another .theory not to be ruled out is that Hitler inspired the death of Boris. The King had managed not to concede all Hitler's demands. On the other hand Filoff, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, is believed to be the complete Quisling, ready to subordinate "his country entirely to Germany. Hitler may hope to replace Boris with this handier tool. Reports have it that Boris recently visited Hitler's headquarters. It is unlikely he would be found more forthcoming on this recent occasion, with Axis fortunes ebbing, than he was in 1911 when Hitler was riding the crest of the wave. Tndeed, like Hungary and Rumania, Bulgaria was seeking to hedge and perhaps even to find some way out of the Axis hole The Soviet Ministry stood open in Sofia. Moreover the Govern- j merit showed a willingness, most un-j welcome in Berlin, to heed the Allied warning by leaflet and prepare for the declaration of Sofia as an open city. With Budapest inclined the same way. where were List. Rommel and company to discover headquarters; how were they to plan their military transport minus such centos of communications and supply? More ominous still, the former Bulgarian | Prime Minister. Kyusievanov, was reported to be returning from the security of Switzerland He was believed to have prospects of replacing Filoff. and Hitler remembered that Kyusievanov had tried to keep Bulgaria neutral Boris' death can therefore be explained as an attempt to bind Bulgaria firmly to the side of Germany. It would be a desperate remedy producing no more than a temporary cure Filoff may be strong enough to enslave Bulgaria in the short run. but only at (he cost, of serious trouble later on—and it may prove to be earlier than Hitler thinks. Whether Boris died at the hands of an assassin or from natural causes, the result is much the same From the enemy viewpoint, the Balkans have gone from bad to worse At the very moment when Italian aid-in policing the peninsula is. beinti withdrawn and when a, re- j liable satellite is all the more needed to help hold down Greece, Mace donia, Thrace and Serbia, a large question mark appears over Sofia A dictator King of some competence is to be replaced by three regents whose orientation has yet to be j tried. Incidentally, melancholy re I flections are prompted by the fact j that to-day boy Icing- are the noini nal rulers in three of the five Balkan ! States— Peter of Yugoslavia. Michael j of Rumania, Simeon of Bulgaria. In i the fourth State. Hungary, a Recent! has held sway since 1020. and in the

fifth, Goorge of orecce is King in exile, Hitler thought to hutlres<= his southern flank, recruit armies, arid harvest crops by conquering- ihe Hal kans flis hut tress is crumbling, he must divert divisions to, instead of faking them from, the Balkans, he has even destroyed their productivity and put the peasants on rations. Hons' death introduces a new explosive mixture into the powder magazine of Europe.