FEDERAL – STATE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26632, 1 December 1947, Page 5

FEDERAL - STATE

COMMUNIST PLANS EASTERN EUROPE COUNTRIES SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON.. Nov. 30. Mr Stalin and the Bulgarian Prime Minister, M. Dimitrov, met recently at Sochi and discussed a proposal to merge the Communist countries of Eastern Europe into one federal State with the capital at Belgrade, the Observer's diplomatic correspondent learns from a reliable source. The Communist countries with a population of 80,000.000, to 90,000,000 would, under this plan, form a new Great Power closely linked with Russia. The leaders appear to have decided to work first toward a Yugoslav-Bul-garian federation, which might provide the nucleus for a new State, while continuously strengthening links both among the various future member States and between these States and the new southern Slavonic unit. The correspondent adds that great importance is attached in Eastern European diplomatic circles in London to visits last week of Marshal Tito to Sofia, and the Hungarian Prime Minister, M. Dinnyes, to Bucharest Outwardly, the former resulted in a 20year Bulgarian-Yugoslav treaty of friendship and co-operation, and the latter in a cultural and minorities agreement between Hungary and Rumania. But important as these were, it is believed that much more farreaching understandings were achieved and that the Tito-Dimitrov meeting, especially, was the beginning of much -greater things. ...... Marshal Tito, in a speech, said that many people would say the visit portended the creation of a federation, but Yugoslavia and Bulgaria were creating such close unilateral co-operation that the question of federation was oniy a formality. The correspondent adds: In all speeches associated with the Tito-Dimitrov meeting there were many allusions to repercussions of this new-as yet unformalised—YugoslavBulgarian unity beyond its frontiers. For example, M. Kolarov. temporary President of Bulgaria, in bestowing on Marshal Tito the highest Bulgarian orders, said the practical realisation of the brotherhood and unity of the southern Slavs would be an event the importance of which would be felt well beyond the frontiers of both States. .. Marshal Tito was even more explicit when, after naming Poland. Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Rumania ns friends and brothers of the Yugoslav and Bulgarian peoples, he said: “Our Slav brothers and all those States in the East which are following the onlyright path in the realisation of true peoples’ democracies from an indestructible Power which is a _ mighty factor for peace in the world.” Reuter’s correspondent at Sofia says that Marshal Tito issued a statement saying he discovered that, as a result of his visit to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, the Bulgarian peoples did not want u frontier but a federation. Marshal Tito added that the Yugoslav-Bulgarian treaty represented the fulfilment of both nations’ desires.