THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, July 15, 1943. BULGARIA’S ROLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25278, 15 July 1943, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, July 15, 1943. BULGARIA’S ROLE

Although it' is suggested from Palestine that Hitler has chosen Belgrade as the Axis headquarters for the defence of the Balkans against the Allied invasion that is feared by him it is to be expected that the spotlight will continue to be directed more on Sofia than on the Jugoslav capital. For the fact is that Bulgaria, by virtue of her position in the central and most important part of the Balkans, stands virtually at decisive crossroads in south-eastern Europe. In the strategic sense she has control of vital communications through the Vardar Valley—the only road to Serbia and central Europe—as well as the northward route to the Rumanian' oilfields. Also, there are German military airfields in Bulgaria which bring the straits giving entrance to the Black Sea within half-an-hour’s striking distance—a point not likely to be overlooked by Hitler while he anxiously watches the unpredictable course of Turkish foreign policy. The probability is that, although Hitler would prefer to work out his Balkan design from Sofia, the peculiar and dangerous condition of political unrest in Bulgaria prevents him from doing so. In no country in Europe did the treacherous German attack on Russia have a more profound effect than in Bulgaria. The pro-Axis Government dominated by King Boris has done its best to secure active Bulgarian co-operation in the “ holy German crusade ” against Russia, but without avail. No Bulgarian force has been sent to Germany’s eastern frontier, and there is still a Russian legation in Sofia and a Bulgarian legation at Kuibyshev, the. temporary seat of Russian government. Boris, in brief, is playing his own tortuous political game, and it m.ay be that by remaining technically at peace with Russia, he has been able to help Hitler more effectively by releasing Bulgarian divisions for the preservation of “peace and order” in Macedonia, Northern Greece, and Sferbia. The continuing unrest in Bulgaria, which has already found its expression in extensive sabotage and in the assassination of certain of the leading proNazi figures in the political life of the country, has its origin in the Government’s fight against the socalled Communist elements. The workers’ movement is certainly the most active anti-Nazi political movement in Bulgaria. But, according to a correspondent of the London Times lately returned from Sofia, many of its leaders are no more Comipunist than any British Liberal. “ If free elections were to be held,” he writes, “ the workers’ movement in its various forms would command the support of the majority of towndwelling voters, and from one-third to, perhaps, one-half of the village or peasant voters —that is, 80 per cent, of the entire population.” The correspondent adds that most of the remaining votes would go to the agrarian parties, most of which are working in co-operation with the underground elements; that the old democratic, radical, < and liberal parties have sunk into insignificance; and that the only other political power of importance is represented in a combination of groups, mainly military, which are anti-Fascist, proRussian, republican, and Balkan federalist in their convictions. From this’estimate of the position in Bulgaria it is apparent that an Allied landing anywhere in south-eastern Europe might be the signal for a political upheaval in which Bulgaria would be at the centre, and which would almost certainly involve the swift decline, of German influence throughout the entire Balkan area.