UNREST IN BALKANS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 205, 31 August 1943, Page 5

UNREST IN BALKANS

BULGARIANS UNEASY PROSPECTS FOR ALLIED BLOW (By Telegraph— Press Association—Copyright' Recd. 11 p.m. New York, Aug. 30. Demonstrations have broken out throughout Bulgaria and the Regency, which is feeble, cannot expect to stand beyond a fortnight against either German pressure or the people’s demands for immediate peace, says the New York Times’ Ankara correspondent. Balkan experts in Turkey believe that anarchy in Bulgaria is inevitable unless the Bulgarian army, in which high-ranking officers are pro-German, brings off a coup d’etat or the Allies seize the opportunity to strike the leaderless nation. Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen expressed the view that anything at present might happen and all in our favour. The correspondent says the next fortnight will reveal whether the Bulgars will continue the fruitless struggle or come to terms with the Allies for the opening of an immediate Balkan front through Thrace, Strumica. Vardar and central Serbia to the Hungarian plains. No official announcement has been made of the cause of King Boris' death, and doubts about the German statement that he died from heart disease and lung troubles persist. Reports from neutral sources say that large crowds in Sofia yesterday demonstrated against the Germans and demanded peace.

Berlin radio stated that the Bulgarian Cabinet has ordered 40 days’ mourning for King Boris. Theatres and cinemas have been closed and weddings have been suspended for a week. Hitler has sent condolences to the Bulgarian royal family and the King of Italy has ordered three months’ court mourning.