16 JULY 1948, Page 2

Yugoslavia Stands Firm

Important as it is to form some accurate assessment of the conse- quences of Yugoslavia's defiance of the Cominform, almost all the reliable information on that country's attitude comes from Mr. Alexander Werth's messages from Belgrade to the Manchester Guardian. They make it clear that in Yugoslavia itself opinion is com- pletely solid. Loyalty to Tito is universal and clamorously expressed. There is no sign of any turn to the West, but within the Cominform, or if necessary outside it, Yugoslavia intends to shape her own course in accordance with her own interests, not with instructions from Moscow. So far Russia is silent. Tito clearly has no desire to provoke her. Some small concessions, like the dissolution of the virtually non-existent Socialist Party, are being made to Communist opinion. But the Yugoslav Communist Party begins its conference next Wednesday, with the customary fraternal delegations from Russia and other Communist countries absent. Consideration must clearly be given there to recent events, and a choice will almost necessarily be made between an advance to Russia, with a view to rebuilding broken bridges, and an open assertion of the independence of Yugoslav Communism. All the signs are that the latter course will be followed, for the tide of nationalism is running high, and Belgrade papers are criticising the Cominform vigorously and freely. At the same time, to hold the balance even, the trial of Croat terrorists which began on Tuesday at Zagreb, is being made the occasion of considerable inflammation of opinion against "a foreign Power," to wit America, in whose interests the prisoners were said to be acting. But there is no doubt that the country that has lost prestige in Yugoslavia in the last fortnight is Russia ; she is not likely to reconcile herself indefinitely to that.