SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE IN YUGOSLAVIA PRIOR TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNION OF COMMUNISTS OF YUGOSLAVIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00247A001600070001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2014
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 2, 1964
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelatiof ht.__ w.........Ni.m ner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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*C 0 N. 0 X f 11.!E T 1 AL
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COUNTRY Yugoslavia
SUBJECT
Social, Economic, and Political
Atmosphere in Yugoslavia Prior
to the Congress of The Union of
Communists of Yugoslavia
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. PAGES
REFERENCES
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE ACQ.
2 OCT 1964 50X1-HUM
6
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION. SOURCE GRADIN S ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
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1.
Preparatory work for the Congress of the Union of Communists of
Yugoslavia (UCY), scheduled for the month of November 1964 in
Belgrade, continues in muted silence and amidst the most complete
indifference on the part of the population. The Congress, ori-4-
nally slated for the beginning of November, has been hosthone5
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2. /rrom time to time the press takes note of this activity?which
takes place mainly within the town, district andrepublic com-
mittees, with little or nothing going on in the so-called "basic"
organizations--and reports on the subjects under discussion: the
"guiding role" of the UCY (which is the principal topic and which
is at the root of the differences between the two currents con-
tending for power), the positions of communists within the frame-
work of an increasingly developed system of social self-manage-
ment, amendments to the UCY statutes, and opportunities of ex-
tending to Party organizations the principles of "job rotation"
which the new Federal Constitution prescribes for government
office,holders.
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INFORMATION REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT
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3. The Belgrade press, as well as that of the other Yugoslav cities,
reports the debates which are taking place on these topics "among
all of the members and in the basic organizations of the UCY." In
reality, as it happens, the few meetings which are held are not well
attended by the members. There is a great deal of indifference, not
to mention real and proper opposition ("fronda"). Recently it was
toted that there was wide absenteeism /Trom places of employmenI7 by
large segments of the population, even including members of the UCY.
In the past few months this attitude has become more pronounced and
has been denounced by the Party organs several times.
4. It is a fact that the UCY is going through a grave crisis, a crisis
which is apparent at the top level in the dissent between the "Kar-
delians" and. the "Rankoviciani" and which extends downward to the
lowest Party levels. Direction and initiative are lacking in all
fields, including the very delicate one of the economy. The more
important officials abstain from taking positions that are not
generic affirmations. Only Edvard Kardelj expounds his theories
from time to time, clarifying differences in terminology, such as
that between "guiding role" and "directing role" with respect to
the UCY, and affirming, in the dispute over his repeated declarations
regarding the necessity for introducing into Yugoslavia an increasingly
greater democratization, that the "UCY cannot reserve for itself the
exclusive direction in the making of decisions", and that "the members
of the UCY can carry out a progressive role only if they analyze the
social movements derived from democratic discussions with all of the
other workers, and if they propose concrete solutions to them."
5. Kardelj's principal opponent with respect to Yugoslav Communist
ideology, Aleksandar Rankovic, has been silent for a long time.
Around Belgrade people are saying that "he sees and hears everything
and at the opportune moment will again take over the wheel to direct
the ship on he proper course." "Naturally," they add, "he will not
return to a Stalinist system." In truth, Rankovic's position does
appear to be rather enigmatic. It is comprehensible that he is not
indulging in polemics with the opposing current. On the other hand,
it is not comprehensible why he continues to remain passive in the
face of the commotion which is being engendered within the Yugoslav
Communist movement, of which he is the Organization Secretary--and
which, moreover, he should be able to control through the UDBa cadres.
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People keep on saying that Rankovic is a "hard-line" /Communisltand
a strong man who "when the time comes will know how to make his autho-
rity felt and valued."
6. In the meanwhile, while waiting for this "opportune moment", the UCY
is crushing itself /literally, making mush out of itseq7 and be-
coming more discredited daily, not only in the eyes of grdinary people
but in the eyes of its own members as well. Several incidents which
impressed only persons who are little in the know of what is going on
in Yugoslavia prove this. Several weeks ago, it was rumored that the
Communists in Novi Sad had returned their cards to the "basic" organi-
zation, claiming "the excessive cost" of membership dues as the reason
for their action. This is without precedent and of extreme gravity.
It is known that the majority of the UCY members do not pay their
membership dues: a few through "laxness", but most out of protest
against the "ineptitude" demonstrated by the movement, by its "in-
ability to take care of the interests of the working people." At
the root of this attitude can be indicated the nToneici:Stehee",in'Pradtic(
of the UCY especially in the places of work
the economic
difficulties in Yugoslavia, and "the state of confusion" which mem-
bers see on all levels of the apparatus. 50X1-HUM
7. For several months here the password among Yugoslav officials has
been -'It. is necessary to raise the standard of living of the Yugo-
slav people.". In the last plenum of the central Committe.E7 of the
UCY aTrch 19647, devoted to controversial ideological problems,
Marshal Tito, instead of intervening personally in the debate on the
topic which had been introduced by the Secretary of the Ideological
Committee, Veljko Vlahovic, preferred to devote his attention ex-
clusively to questions which were most pressing then and which con-
tinue to demand the attention of those responsible for public affairs:
economic difficulties , tax policies, investments, pay scales. In
particular, the Yugoslav President discussed "the standard of living
of our people, a problem which is now at a point which demands a
thoughtful and definitive solution." Ever since the top hierarchies
of the Government and of the UCY have done nothing but talk about
"raising the standard of living" of the workers, and of practical
measures for achieving this. Instead, however, in July 1964, the
Federal Government adopted measures which had consequences dia-
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metrically opposite to those desired by the Yugoslav people: in-
creases in the prices of certain consumer items, raw materials and
services, which provoked a chain reaction in all sectors. This re-
sulted in a general increase in all prices on the wholesale and on
the retail level and, thus, a further increase in the cost of living
(which went up in the past year by more than 60%, at least insofar as
foodgtuffs, etc., are concerned).
8. The reactions were very quick everywhere and open protests on the part
of the ordinary people were not lacking--nor were they lacking on
the part of "certain Communists, certain UCY committees, and certain
political leaders", as noted by the UCY publication, KOMUNIST. After
having noted that "the new measures designed to strengthen our economic
system have aroused negative reactions among the public", and that "the
working people, to a major extent, have accepted them but have not re-
frained from criticizing them", the paper deplored the behavior of
certain Communists and, as noted above, certain committees and poli-
tical leaders, who had "drawn erroneous and negative deductions on
the grounds of the superficial reactions of citizens due to a lack
of information." To the Yugoslav workers, the action taken by the
Government at the same time "to counter the hardships provoked by
an increased cost of living", consisting of a "cost of living pre-
mium" which enterprises were instructed to distribute monthly in
1,500-dinar payments, seemed a mockery. The amount seemed abso-
lutely ridiculous to all, and inadequate by all, to compensate for
the increases which the citizens had to face. And so it was. Not
many are aware that ?only in individual enterprises could the cost
of living premium be granted. The greater number of industrial and
commercial enterprises and public institutions were in no position to
supply the funds necessary to cover this new expense. The manage-
ment of the Belgrade newspaper BORBA found that, for the time being,
it was impossible to issue the premium to its own employees.
9. The Yugoslav economy presents a very complex problem which merits
examining in depth. The above is only one aspect--the aspect most
important to the workers, the "masses" whom the regime seeks to man-
euver for its own ends and who, instead, have been abandoned beyond
any limit foreseen by the most pessimistic. The Yugoslav economy
presents also positive aspects, however. It is growing steadily in
every field and it is even to be admired when one considers the
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modest point from which it began, the sparse means at its disposal,
and the lack of skill of its technicians. The crisis which is now
going on is above all a crisis of growth. Naturally this leads in-
evitably to difficult situations, such as those described above.
There are limits, in one way and another, and there are extremes.
One which may be cited, which is indicative of the gravity of the
period which Yugoslavia is going through and which was published
in the "Information Bulletin of the Trade Union Council of Serbia"
is as follows: "The fact that the pay of the workers in the Vlasina
enterprise in Lipljan, Kosmet, is low can be understood up to a cer-
tain point; but how can one understand that the workers of that com-
pany receive their pay from two to more than five months late? How
can one understand that the enterprise neglects to pay the workers
indemnities for sickness and other rights provided by the Consti-
tution, such as family allowances for children?" This case, de-
nounced by the Serbian Trade Union Bulletin, is certainly an iso-
lated case, but it is certain that in all of the companies and in-
stitutions in Yugoslavia one can find numerous defects and outrages.
The hundreds of thousands of claims presented by workers to organs
of the judiciary and other instances are proof of this. All of this
can bnly reflect the judgment of the people, including the communists,
against their leaders and above all against the UCY, "always big with
promises," they say in Yugoslavia, "which it is incapable of fulfilling."
10. With regard to the Kardelj-Rankovic dispute, the President of the
Chamberff. several weeks ago removed from office his personal
secretary, Milorad Stanic, a Slovellian and member of the Central
Committee of the UCY of Slovenia./ Kardelj had learned that Stanic
was an "informer for the UDBA". The former secretary was turned over
to the Federal Executive Council. The affair is considered a
"scandal" in the Belgrade Communist circles.
Comments. 50X1 -HUM
1. As of mid-September 1964, the Congress was scheduled to convene
on 12 December, with the Executive Committee scheduled for 7 December
to prepare the agenda.
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2. The President of the Federal Chamber is Mijalko Todorovic. How-
ever, Edvard Kardelj is President of the Federal Assembly;
it is possible that the source used the word "Camera" to indicate
the latter parlementary body.
3. Stanic is not listed as a member of any of the republican Cen-
tral Committees in the February 1964 Svijetski Almanah.
Distribution of Attachment:
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