A Second Spain ?
The argument over the effect of President Truman's message pro- ceeds with remarkably small reference to the internal affairs of Greece. Last week's Commons debate on the Supplementary Estimate for aid to Greece contained some fierce speeches for and against the rebels, but little information. Questions put to Mr. Hector McNeil on Monday revealed the same disposition to take sides on ideological rather than factual grounds. More serious still is the difficulty which
the United Nations Commission have met in collecting evidence en the spot, a difficulty which has been rendered acute by the pronounced tendency of its members to take sides. On March txth a field investi- gation team, armed with valid Yugoslav visas, was refused entry into a particularly important piece of Yugoslav territory which was said to contain a rebel base. On March 15th, after four uncomfortable days spent in the mountains in an attempt to take evidence from the guerilla leader Markos, another team broke up after a dispute between themselves. The Russian and Polish delegates decided to wait on in the hope of meeting Markos, who was long overdue, possibly on operations against the Government forces. The British, American, French, Australian, Belgian, Brazilian and Syrian delegates returned to Salonika. The liaison officers of Albania, Bulgaria and Yugo- slavia remained, as was scarcely surprising, with the Russian and Polish delegates. Such incidents as these merely add fuel to the flames of Greek civil war. They encourage the rebels in their resist- ance and they do not discourage the Government in its frequent arrests of left-wing suspects. Greece, in fact, shows all the symptoms of becoming a second Spain. Nothing but strict enquiry inside Greece and strict neutrality outside can prevent the present trouble from opening up yet another fissure between right and left in all countries and so diminishing the possibility of peaceful two-party government. It must not happen. Europe and the world have sufficient troubles on their hands without seeking new ones.
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