THE BALKANS

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14766, 4 October 1921, Page 4

THE BALKANS

There are still rumours of wars in the European cauldron. There is tension between Hungary and Austria, and also between Albania and Serbia. It is not improbable that the former question will be settled without resort to hostilities, as the Ambassadorial Council is arranging for a meeting of plenipotentiaries. The dispute in the Balkans, however, may prove somewhat troublesome, for it is not a question of modern development, and it is to be feared that it has its basis In something a little more untoward and inimical to peace than what the Serbian delegates have referred to as mere "frontier incidents" so common in the Balkans. In the past the Balkans have been aptly described as "the powder magazine of Europe." The war has brought about some striking changes, and should have served to clear the atmosphere of some of its dangerous elements, at least for the time bcinp:. "The main feature of the Balkan situation to-day," says the writer of a recent review article, "is the realisation of nationalisms, perhaps the most intense which have ever inspired the minds of men. The fulfilment of the dreams which to large numbers of people were something more than a religion may, it is true, be causing widespread disillusionment; but the achievement of self-determination on the basis of nationality is a necessary preliminary to real progress, and a great good as a means to that end. And the Balkan peoples are now presented with an opportunity they never before enjoyed of proving to the world that nationalism is not an end in itself but a means to a greater end." It might be suggested that this docs not appear to be precisely the kind of opportunity which the Serbs and the Greeks are looking for at the present moment in their solicitude about the Albanian frontier. Albania, a few years ago a Turkish province, was declared independent at the Conference of London in 1913, and an international Commission of Control was set up by the Powers to direct the organisation and progress of the Slate. During the war it seemed doubtful whether this independence would survive, but it is guaranteed to-day by the Supreme Council of the Allies. The British Government has indicated* that it adheres to the frontiers of 1913, but as yet the Supreme Council has made no authoritative utterance on the point. It is apparently this decision or omission that has given the Serbians and the Greeks opportunity to invade territory winch the Albanians consider their own. The admission of Albania to the League of Nations was a recognition of hei'| right to exist independently which should stand her in good stead against the attempts of her neighbours at encroachment.