Balkan Defence •
The conversations M. Kopriilii, the Foreign Minister of Turkey, has been having in Belgrade and Athens, and particu- larly his rather guarded reference to the desirability of a tripartite conference between Turkey, Yugoslavia and Greece, lend added interest and importance to Marshal Tito's forth- _ coming visit to this country. M. KopriiIii, without having any definite mission to discharge, would appear to have carried out a very useful piece of work. Partly as the result of dangers, or potential dangers in the north, all tension between the two southern Balkan States and Turkey has disappeared. What is required now is to translate the manifest goodwill existing between the three into definite agreements for co-operation in defence. There is, of course, the complication arising from.the fact that while Turkey and Greece are members of N.A.T.O. Yugoslavia is not, and has apparently no intention of joining that body. That is,,no doubt an obstacle to the conclusion of a formal defence treaty, but a considerable amount of useful co-ordination is possible short of that. A close, if informal, understanding would have valuable moral effects, and that in a world in which one of Russia's chief weapons is an attempt to undermine morale is a matter of no negligible importance. But the value of the tripartite rapprochement would be enormously increased if Italy could be brought into some sort of association with .it. Her relations with two of the three Powers is excellent—Signor de Gasperi has recently paid a useful visit to Athens—but antagonism between her and Yugo- slavia over Trieste seriously imperils security in the Eastern Mediterranean. Marshal Tito is not coming to London to discuss that, but it is impossible that he and Mr. Eden should not discuss it. If together they could devise a practical solution all Western Europe would gain substantially.
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