GREAT TENSION

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21369, 13 March 1941, Page 7

GREAT TENSION

I NAZIS AND YUGOSLAVIA RESISTANCE STIFFENED RUSSIA AND AMERICA ! 'Lulled Press A&sn. —E'iec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, March 12 Tension has developed in the re- ; laticvis between Germany and Yugo- ! slavia and anti-German incidents are reported from Slovenia, near the Austrian frontier, says the Belgrade correspondent of the Times. Army circles and the Serbian population of Yugoslavia are increasingly uneasy at the prospect of a pact with Germany which, while outwardly preserving the country’s independence, would make Yugoslavia an instrument of German politics in the Balkans. The likelihood that Hitler, after a pact of friendship, would insist on the demobilisation of the Yugoslav Army, has aroused alarm among Serbian military leaders and stiffened resistance to the German proposals. The Yugoslavs are paying great at- | tention to the new agreement bei tween Bulgaria and Germany for the : early general mobilisation of the Buli garian Army. i The stiffening of Yugoslav opinion ; has resulted in a hardening of German diplomacy toward Yugoslavia. Ministers’ Trip Postponed According to the Belgrade correspondent of the Daily Mail a German aeroplane arrived on Monday to take the Prime Minister, M. Tsvetkovich, and the Foreign Minister, Dr. CincarMarkovitch, to sign Hitler’s nan- ! aggression pact, but the trip was | postponed. The postponement of the trip is rej ported to have been made for the ; three following reasons:— (1) The passage of the “Lend-and-Lease” Bill. (2) Tj'nconfirmed reports of Russian diplomatic moves in Ankara and Belgrade. (3) A flood of “no surrender” resolutions from Opposition parties and patriotic organisations. Another message from Belgrade says Yugoslav anti-aircraft guns' are reported to have shot down a three engined German bomber near Negotin, where the frontiers of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Rumania meet. The Yugoslav news agency states that reports from foreign sources that Germany has presented an ultimatum to the Yugoslav Foreign Minister, and other reports about relations between Yugoslavia and Germany, are entirely false. One report states that the Yugoslav Government is to be reconstructed and headed by • more pro-German elements. Broadcasting from London Mr Cyril Lakin said Reuter’s correspondent had quoted well-informed circles as stating that Yugoslavia would not join the Axis. STAND NO NONSENSE DETERMINATION OF TURKEY ASSURANCE BY RUSSIA (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrlgnt) LONDON, March 11 A foreign diplomatic source at Istanbul said that Turkish anti-air-craft guns fired on three German warplanes flying over the Turkish fortifications on the frontier of Bulgaria, says the Associated Press correspondent. The aeroplanes were not hit and returned to Bulgaria. The correspondent also quotes a reliable unofficial source as saying that the Russian Premier, M. Molotoff, assured 'the Turkish Ambassador to Moscow that Turkey need not fear an attack from Russia if she entered, the war. The Ankara correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says it is openly admitted that Turkey will stand no j nonsense and will fight if necessary. J Germany has not enough troops in the Balkans to face Turkey, Greece and, perhaps eventually, Yugoslavia, and at the same time guard her own Russian frontier and maintain readiness for other emergencies. Turkish determination to fight if menaced is demonstrated by the fact that the Istanbul municipality is preparing to demolish all wooden houses in the city and to evacuate inhabitants who wish to leave. Turkey is also rapidly completing her defences and storing reserves of food in the interior.