YUGOSLAVS UNEASY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26918, 2 November 1948, Page 6

YUGOSLAVS UNEASY

MEMBER EXPELLED ACTION BY COMMUNISTS SUPPORT FOR MARSHAL TITO RESENTED PA WELLINGTON, Nov. 1. Because he refused to comply with the Cominform repudiation and excommunication of Marshal Tito, one of the most prominent members of the New Zealand Yugoslav community has been expelled by the New Zealand Communist Party, which has accused him of “ Trotskyism ” and “ opportunism.” . _ , Inquiries by the Evening Post revealed that the expulsion is the cause of widespread discussion among the Yugoslav population in Auckland and Wellington and that other Yugoslav members of the Communist Party or sympathisers with that organisation are uneasy about their partisan loyalties as a consequence of the feud between Tito and Stalin. The expelled Communist, who is a resident of Wellington, has been a member of the Communist organisation at different periods since the economic depression. He has held important positions in Yugoslav organisations. The facts disclosed by Yugoslavs who have lately discussed the expulsion, as well as general issues arising from the controversy between Yugoslavia and the Cominform countries, are that the Yugoslav told some of his countrymen that he would be a traitor to his country if he rejected Tito and accepted Cominform policy in the dispute. His attitude was apparently reported to the Communist Party, officials of which gave him a fortnight in which to make up his mind about supporting Tito or agreeing with the Cominform. At the appointed time the Yugoslav said he would resign from the Communist Party. However, two Communist officials signed a long letter expelling him.