THE BBC's YUGOSLAV SERVICE
SIR,—The discussion in the Spectator, in connection with the BBC broadcast to Yugoslavia, seems to me to be too narrowly confined. The conspiracy of silence regarding the Communist regime in Yugoslavia is not limited only to the BBC. The same attitude has been adopted by the most prominent papers of this country in their information and comments or. post-war Yugoslavia. There exists, for instance, an enormous difference between the ways in which The Times correspondents in., Yugoslavia before the war used to report on the then prevailing conditions there, and the ways used by present-day correspon- dents. Between the wars they reported openly regard- less whether their reports were pleasing or not to the rulers. Now, we can read regularly in The Times only very cautious reports, written with an eye on the very sensitive feelings of the present wielders of power.
It is remarkable that the same attitude towards Communist Yugoslavia is being taken up by the 'Voice of America,' by the correspondents of the New York Times in Belgrade, and also by the American National Committee for a Free Europe, this last being concerned with European refugees. In order not to offend the tender susceptibilities of post-war Yugoslavia, the European exiles in the US were even advised to refrain from including their colleagues from Yugoslavia in their representative body.
So. it is not difficult to see that the attitude of the BBC service towards post-war Yugoslavia is not an isolated case but is a consequence of the general policy of this country and the US.
I wonder, if those responsible for such an attitude are fully aware of its demoralising influence upon the oppressed peoples in Communist-run countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and if they realise the damage which is being done to the general cause of democracy and liberty.—Yours faithfully, JURAJ KRNJEVIC 8 The Chase. SW4
Previous page
