Evening star., 1947-06-25
Balkan Probe Report,
Published by u. n,
May Bring Showdown
BY IN. A.soeioied Press

Inc united NdLlOflS balkdH III
vestigation Commissions report,
holding Yugoslavia primarily to
blame for support Of guerrilla
warfare inside Greece, was made
public today
The commissions findings and
recommendations, already made
known in dispatches from Geneva,
were expected to precipitate a show
down between Russia and the west
ern powers in the Security Council
on the perennial Balkan problem.
Covering a three months inquiry
into the Balkan situation, the $780,
O00-word document was formally
submitted to members of the Secur-
ity Council last Saturday.
Discussion May Start Friday.
The Council was expected to begin
q discussion of the report either Fri
day or early next week. There was
speculation that the United States
might inject into the debate the
Communist assumption sof power in
Hungary and Communist moves In
Bulgaria.
! With Russia and Poland dissent
ing and France abstaining, the Bal
kan commission fixed on Yugoslavia
the primary blame for support of
Green guerrilla warfare, and held
Albania and Bulgaria blameworthy
to lesser degree.
Disturbed political and economic
conditions and the persecution of
minorities inside Greece were cited
in the commissions report as con-
tributing factors to the turbulent
Balkan situation.
As means toward allevlating this
situation, the commission recon-
mended that the Security Council
establish a commission or commits
sioner on the troubled frontier area
of Greece for at least two years to
observe incidents and settle disputes.
Such a commission or commissioner
should. If established, report to the
Council every three months. and
should have access to Albania,
Greece, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria,
the report said.
Minority Report Affixed.
With Russia and Poland opposed,
the commission held also that sup
mort of frontier violating bands
should be considered menace to
world peace and subject to U. N.
action.
To the majority report that Yugo-
slavia was the chief offender, the
Russian and Polish delegations
afixed a minority report asserting
that the Greek government was
primarily to blame.
The majority held that exploita-
ton of the Macedonian question by
ventilating claims to this territory
outside the United Nations is "a
positive threat to the tranquility OF
the Balkans and can only add to
existing tension and suspicion and
{ increase national passions.
A Greek representative appearing
before the commission during the
-the-spot inquiry charged that
Bulgarian and Yugoslav interference
in Greek internal affairs was aimed
at incorporating Greek Macedonia
into the federal Yugoslav state OF
Macedonia.
Both Yugoslavia and Bulgaria de-
MED this charge.
French Refuse to Fix Blame.
France, which abstained from f1x-
ing the blame for Greek guerrilla
warfare, said in statement con-
tanned in the report that "it is to be
feared that in reaching conclusions
with insufficient legal foundation
we might only aggravate an already
critical situation and do unnecessary
harm to perfectly natural sensitiv-
tiles"
Moreover" the French statement
added, the United Nations are
faced not only with a critical but
with a chronic situation; not with
fragrant aggression which requires
sanctions and immediate interven-
ton, but with a tension which,
owing TO a multiplicity OF causes,
has given rise to series of incl
dents, complaints and counter
complaints. Stability can only be
re-established in this part OF Europe
by hard work and much patience. ="
The Soviet minority statement
declared that the establishment OF
a permanent frontier commission
representing the Security Council
and proposals for the conclusion OF
conventions and agreements be-
tween Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria
and Albania "is tantamount to a
limitation of the sovereign rights
of these states in settling their
relations among themselves.
The Polish delegation dissented
on the ground that the measures as
a whole seem Intellectual, since they
take into account only the symp-
toms and not the causes of the
troubles existing in Northern Greece
and along her northern frontiers"