Yugoslavia: Facade and Reality

...Recently, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung, one of Europe's most distinguished journals, published an article which should prove useful in counteracting Western wishful thinking about Yugoslavia...

...Earlier this month, we printed two encouraging articles on Yugoslavia by Paul Willen, who had just visited there...

...Among those whom Mr...

...One might cite as a typical example the attempt made to raise the rents of foreigners residing in Belgrade to 10 or 20 times those charged to Yugoslavs and to make life generally as difficult as possible for them in an economic way...

...Raditsa, Professor of Modern European History at Fairleigh Dickinson College, was formerly Tito's foreign press chief...

...The intellectuals among the Communists feel increasingly repelled by the recently tightened intellectual controls...

...It should be clear by now that the issue is not whether Yugoslavia returns to her pre-1948 position in the Soviet bloc...

...At the end of long years of study, the young intellectuals see nothing ahead but a precarious living...

...shows that a really democratic order does not exist...

...An experienced observer notes many changes -- for the worse -- in the last two years THE 'NEW' YUGOSLAVIA: FACADE AND REALITY By Bogdan Raditsa All too many American observers of Tito's Yugoslavia seem stubbornly determined to see the official facade rather than the living reality in appraising that country's present course...

...Between 1952 and 1954, the [Party] membership dropped from 770,000 to 700,000 as a result of expulsions, and, according to the latest information, it now amounts to little more than 600,000...

...A new Soviet-Yugoslav trade agreement, which has been drawn up though not yet signed, provides for a Russian credit of $54 million to purchase Iron Curtain raw materials and a $30-million gold loan for purposes which are still unclear...

...This policy of self-deception in an effort to keep Yugoslavia on our side at any price will inevitably defeat its own purpose...

...And there are indications that the Kremlin would like to achieve a similar pseudo-independent status for its Eastern European satellites, so that that can achieve greater legitimacy in foreign eyes and perpetrate the same hoax that Tito has on the free nations of the world...

...When he virtually wrecks the Balkan Pact by refusing to transform it into a military alliance, that too is mysteriously construed as a rebuff to Moscow...

...The law, to be sure, also provides for nomination of candidates by written ballots...

...but, when this method was used in some places in the last elections to the Skupshtina, the Communist press at once and with great vehemence turned upon the "criminal attempts of some elements' to "misuse' the electoral law for their "sinister machinations.' " -Conditions within the Communist party: "[There is a] growing antagonism between the Party leaders and the rank-and-file...

...that Bulganin's words completely corresponded to the policy which has been and is being conducted by Yugoslavia.' Comrade Bakaric then said that, according to our sincere belief, relations will not return to the old but will be built on a new basis, for thus they can become better than they ever were...

...One observer who steadfastly denies that the Yugoslavs are drawing closer to Moscow is Paul Willen, whose two articles appeared in The New Leader of October 10 and 17...

...Prices of textiles and other consumer's goods have risen slightly, or at any rate have not dropped...

...The Communist party of Yugoslavia will soon consist only of career-hungry functionaries and UDB [secret police] people...

...The nomination of candidates takes place by means of "public voters' assemblies' which allow the Communist organizers complete control and protect them against the dangers of secret elections...

...Too long for inclusion here is the list of expulsions, arbitrary arrests, intimidations and similar actions that have occurred in the past few months, frequently involving harmless tourists...

...For by now Tito must be convinced that, regardless of what he does, he can always count on Western backing, both diplomatic and economic...

...For a long time, the Yugoslav Communists placed great hope in the youth of the country...

...Moreover, not only Soviet leaders but Chinese Communists and Czechoslovak trade-union delegations and even police officials visited Yugoslavia last summer...

...Willen cited in support of his contention was Vladimir Bakaric, who recently led a Yugoslav parliamentary delegation to the USSR...

...Under this agreement, Yugoslavia's trade with the Soviet bloc should approximate $40 million this year and rise to $75 million in 1956, so that within two years Russia will completely dominate Yugoslav foreign trade...

...It is written by Victor Meier, a correspondent with intimate knowledge of Yugoslavia who visited the country during the past summer...

...When Tito refuses to join NATO, his statement is interpreted in Washington as benefiting the free world rather than the Kremlin...

...If ability to deceive American journalists and statemen is a valid criterion, then Tito is surely the most capable totalitarian ruler of our time...

...They show the narrowness of the base on which rest the Belgrade rulers' aspirations to play a role in world politics...

...There have been many indications in recent months that Comrade Bakaric's forecast is being borne out...

...A fund has also been created to finance the exchange of technical information, equipment and personnel, which means that any future Western projects in Yugoslavia will operate with Moscow's full knowledge...

...Today, they must recognize that the younger generation has become every bit as skeptical as other groups...

...One also wonders how Yugoslavia is to maintain her vaunted "sovereignty" now that, according to Yugoslav press reports, Tito has agreed to accept the Soviet offer of an atomic reactor, a cyclotron and other equipment and material, including uranium...

...Contact with the Western world: "The lack of contact with foreign countries gives them [Yugoslav youth] a feeling of acute frustration...

...Economic conditions: "This aggravation [high living costs] is most acutely felt by the population in regard to food, for which the Yugoslav must still pay out between 60 and 70 per cent of his income...

...Political democracy: "Political conditions...

...The Bulganin-Khrushchev visit has been followed by many others, including that of Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan, who took his family to the Dalmatian Riviera and was Tito's guest on the island of Brioni...

...Tito is far more valuable today as the leader of a "sovereign" nation which supports the chief aims of Soviet foreign policy than he would be as a cringing flunky...

...have deteriorated considerably in Yugoslavia in the past few months...

...Striking in this connection is the rising number of desertions of young Yugoslavs in foreign countries [for whom, one might add, the West has done absolutely nothing...

...The average wage level has remained unchanged at between 8,500 and 9,000 dinars per month...

...Through generous scholarships and similar privileges, they sought in particular to win the young intellectuals...

...Here are some of his comments on various aspects of life under Tito: -Treatment of foreigners: "The declining threat from the East has been paralleled by declining tolerance toward Western residents in Yugoslavia...

...They insist, in defiance of clear evidence, that Yugoslavia is rapidly evolving from a Communist dictatorship into something reasonably akin to a democratic state, and that nothing whatever has changed in Soviet-Yugoslav relations since Bulganin and Khrushchev visited Belgrade...

...The organization of the Yugoslav Communists even today has the character of a political conspiracy which, having seized power in a revolutionary civil war, must defend itself daily against a hostile majority by means of intimidation and terror...

...as a result of the incipient normalization of relations with the Soviet Union, the attitude has grown into one of open unfriendliness...

...A Yugoslav must still spend the sum of 30,000 to 35,000 dinars for an ordinary suit, and the price of a gift parcel containing the legally authorized 3 kilos [6.6 pounds] of coffee and two pairs of nylons is still equal to a whole month's wages...

...Here Bogdan Raditsa cites other information to indicate a different prognosis...

...However, he failed to quote a vital part of the Yugoslav Home Service report on Bakaric's trip...

...This omitted portion declared that Bakaric "approved [Bulganin's speech to the Supreme Soviet] in the following words: 'We were satisfied...

...In fact, it is most unlikely that Moscow even regards such a move as desirable...

...The practical operation of the [electoral] law...