ITALY AND YUGOSLAV

Putaruru Press, Volume V, Issue 177, 24 March 1927, Page 1

ITALY AND YUGOSLAV

I THE BONE OF CONTENTION i j Albania and Adriatic Ports. | The Balkans have always been the j danger spot in Europe for war. The present dispute between Yugoslavia, j which is Serbia since the war, ur.d j Italy, arises over Albania direct]}-, but indirectly over Yugoslavia’s n r.bition to secure a port. : ,At the conclusion of the war, Serbia was greatly annoyed that Trieste was given to Italy, and she \ r.- told by the Great Powers to be content with the port of Fiume, 'at here again, d’Annunzio, together with a few thousand of his lt_lir.n f- dow patriots caused the “ coup d’Etat ” byseizing Fiume and resisting all attempts on the part of Serbia to regain that port; and so Serbia, although it can.e out of the war with an enormous new slice of territory, j including the Dalmation coast, and i the swallowing up of its old ally ! Montenegro, yet still remained with- • out a por.. • j Ser'.ia began to regard the small • neighbouring state of Albania as its j lu.a.c- colony. But Ahmed Bey Zogu, I the new President of Albania, came | to power in the person of a strong ! man, beioved by the whole of the one | million population of Albania, and his ■ governing of that country has def monstrated that Albania was to beI come strong, independent, and prosj perous, and destined to play a most I important part in the future of the I Balkan's commerce. Ahmed Bey Zogu immediately set to work to realise, by means ox great projects', the making of Albania into the commercial gateway -of the Balkans. its strategic and geographical position is such that it can be developed by r means oi new roads, new railways, utilisation of its vast waterpovver, the development of its great oil and mineral resources, and the rebuilding of its ports into the best, quickest and cheapest means of transport of goods between the Balkans and Western Europe and America. News of these important developments reaching Belgrade, created in the minds of the Serbian militarist party the fear that they would never be able to acquire an Albanian port, for Serbia, unless' they- acted quickly, before Ahmed Bey Zogu’s projects could be realised. The Serbian militarist party therefore began anew its old method of creating trouble as an excuse for sending its soldiers across the border into Albania and in this finding even a vague excuse for seizing one of the Albanian ports. The Serbians for some eighteen months past have spent considerable sums of money in bribing the Northern Albanian tribes to cause trouble and in sending Albanian residents in Serbia across the frontier into Al-

bania to cause trouble, but none of these steps have succeeded. However, some four months ago, the Serbian militarist party learned that Ahmed Bey Zogu was about to commence the work of rebuilding and enlarging the port of Durazzo, at a cost of eight million gold francs. Whereupon, the Serbian militarist party decided that they must act quickly and so it was that at a cost of fiftythousand pounds sterling, several hundreds of well armed Albanians, resident in Serbia, were recently sent across the frontier into A.lbania where they- paid over various sums of money to two of the Northern Albanian tribes to start a revolution. Fortunately, Ahmed Bey Zogu’s secret service kept him fully informed of these movements and he was ready-, with twenty-five thousand well euuipped soldiers and gendarmes to resist the so-called rebellion, and immediately it broke out, his troops made a line along the frontier to prevent the insurgents from returning to Serbia and then, swiftly, surrounded the rebels. .At the same time, the whole of the Albanian population, becoming incensed with these acts on the part of the Serbians, rose as one man in support of Ahmed Bey- Zogu and avowed their determination to put a stop to this form of agitation once and for all. Thousands of Albanians offered their services to the state and

within three days the revolution was completely suppressed and several hundreds of prisoners were made, including all the leaders and the men who had been sent from Serbia. In the pockets of these prisoners were found large sums of money, important documents incriminating the Serbian militarist party, and all the men carried arms and ammunition 6f undoubted Serbian origin. The Serbian militarist party, howeve i' were undaunted and immediately decided upon an even greater organised rebellion. News of this reached Tirana at once. Ahmed Bey Zogu realised that the future prosperity of his country and the success of his great objects lay in Peace, not only in his country, but in Peace in the Balkans. Convinced that the only way possible of showing the Serbian militarist party that its rebellious system was futile, was for Albania to have in the background the help of a big European power whenever she should seek it, and therefore he concluded the pact with Italy now called the Treaty of Tirana. The Treaty is a defensive one, and has been registered at the League of Nations.