14 APRIL 1939, Page 3

Bulgaria In less critical circumstances the Axis could confi- dently

depend on Bulgaria's co-operation in any attempt to disrupt the Balkan Entente, which in origin at least is an anti-Bulgarian alliance ; while Bulgaria's Hohenzollern tradi- tion and revisionist claims both incline her to alliance with Germany. Yet by the Salonika Pact of 1937 Bulgaria, while maintaining her demands, already showed a moderation of her hostility to the other Balkan Powers ; and today the fate of Albania has demonstrated that the Axis is as dangerous to its allies as to its enemies—or rather more so. This demonstration has affected Sofia, like the other Balkan capitals ; while the suppression of the Nazi party in Bulgaria has shown that friendship with Germany may be a danger internally as well as externally, because of the opportunity it gives the German Nazis of encouraging subversive agitation and propaganda. Such considerations may lead Bulgaria to prefer securing concessions from Rumania and Greece, in return for co-operation against aggression, to realising her demands by force in alliance with Germany and Italy ; the rumours that King Boris of Bulgaria and King Carol of Rumania have been in contact with each other gives strength to this belief. The co-operation of Bulgaria would certainly be a valuable gain for the Balkan Entente.