Evening star., 1945-08-24
Balkan Troubles


Eastern Europe would have come
as less OF a surprise had not the
Potsdam communique given rise to
the impression that the Big Three
had settled the principal questions
affecting the Balkan countries.
Now it appears that they are far
from settled. The United States
and Britain, doubling that there will
be much democracy" in the elec-
ton set for this Sunday in Bulgaria,
nave threatened to deny recogni-
ton to the new Bulgarian govern
ment. The Russians, through the
newspaper Izvestia, have denounced
critics OF the Romanian and Bull
garian governments as reaction
arles," have said that the forth
coming elections in Greece are be-
ing prepared by monarchists under
conditions of open Fascist terror"
and have refused to join the United
States and Britain in watching"
the balloting in Greece. To watch
an election, Izvestia says, is equiva-
lent to bringing it under foreign
control, and that is incompatible
with a states independence"
IzveStia also indicated that Russia's
attitude would be the same with
regard to "other countries where
elections are only a matter of a
short time" thereby casting doubt
on the value of the assurances in
the Potsdam communique-signed
by Marshal Stalin-to the effect that
Allied newspaper correspondents
would be free to report on the prom
ised Polish elections, and that they
also would "enjoy full freedom to re-
port to the world upon developments
in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and
Finland"
1t is difficult to gauge the pre-
else significance of these exchanges.
Yet it is clear enough that the clash,
to the extent that it may be called
a clash, is not between the western
powers and such minor states as
Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia,
but between the western powers and
Russia.
There is no doubt that the Balkan
countries have become satellites of
Russia. In part, this is due to the
facts of geography, and in addi-
tional part to compromises in favor
of Russia which were made during
the war with Germany. But now,
for reasons which are not clear, we
seem to be competing with Soviet
influence in an area, dHminated by
the Red Army, and In which, to all
intents and purposes, Russian domi-
nance had become an accomplished
fact.
Why have we and the British
challenged the correctness of the
Bulgarian election at this late hour?
The stated reason is that the ar
rangements for the election are
not sufficiently democratic, but the
meaning of that is unsatisfyingly
obscure. There have never been
democratic elections in Bulgaria in
the sense in which we use the term,
and it is difficult to believe that our
Government, at this time, is at
tempting to prescribe election
standards for Bulgaria which would
be appropriate in this country.
More probably, what has been re-
vealed in the official statements is
only part of the picture, and the
fair assumption is that the current
diplomatic moves are aimed at
larger objectives, the nature of
which remains to be fully disclosed.
Without full access to the facts,
there is no basis either for approval
or criticism. 1t is evident, however,
that this is delicate business, and
it must be assumed that those who
are acting for the United States
know what they are doing.