STAFF NOTES: SOVIET UNION-EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000400110038-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 16, 2005
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: December 31, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

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Confidential
Soviet Union--Eastern Europe
State Dept. declassification & release instructions on file
Confidential
December 31, 1975
No. 0786/75
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(:ONVI1)EN'I'1A I,
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December. 31, 1975
Year-Lwl Smiles for Austrian-Yugoslav
ltelil Lions
. .
Romania SLaps Up Anti-RF'E
Callihai CIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Albania Maintains Tou(ih Line . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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CON 1,11) FINTIA 1,
Year-hild "an.i.1c:; 1or. ~u:rLr. i. to-Yuc o:;:LcLv Relation.;
ALl:;triall Chancellor Kru:i.:;),y and YU(jO:;IOV hre:;i-'
dent Tito attentl.~tecl to put the boot face on bila'-crc ).
relations during I:rc i.sky': unof fici.,a:L visit to Yugo--
s lavia on December. 2 8 -29 .
Relation:; between the two countries reached a
low point last spring, when Belgrade accused Vienne:,
of discrimination against the Slovene minority in
the Austrian state of CarinLiti_a. At issue were un -
implemented points in the language of local minor:i.-
ties in parts of Austria. Vienna, in reaction, ti. Inpo-
rarily withdrew its ambassador from Belgrade. I3o!:'h
sides have since made offor.ts to patch over their
differences, and tension:; appeared to ease foilow.ing
talks between Chancellor Kreisky and Tito in IIe.l-
sinki in July.
While in Yugoslavia, Kreisky discussed the mi-
nority issue primarily with Tito's close adviser,
Edward Kardel-i ; with Tito, the discussions were of
broader international issues. Kreisky said thzil:
the Yugoslav side had taken a "very tactful atiL.i.-
tude" on the minority problem and stressed that. the
Yugoslavs had not "made proposals" concerning aus-
rian policy. Tito said that the Kreisky visi',:: it-
self showed that bilateral relations had impr :red
in the past few months and that "we are on th. best
way to better understand the mutual difficult es."
Despite these soothing words, controversial
issues remain, and Belgrade will continue to monitor
Vienna's treatment of its Slovenian minority. Aus-
tria's Socialist government has procrastinated in
addressing the unpopular road-sign issue, but with
the recent elections under its belt Vienna may feel
free to take some action in the coming year.
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Vienna has linked a solution to a "special mi-
nority census," which the government probably hopes
to use as a rationale for putting up bilingual road
signs in Carinthia only in areas having a significant
Slovenian population. The Yugoslavs do not go along
with the census plan and insist that bilingual road-
signs be used throughout the state.
Any solution will more than likely offend sonic
Slavic- and Cerman-speaking Austrians. An Austrian
study commission suggested last spring that one way
to resolve the dispute is to submit the problem to
the UN for a decision.
December 31, 1975
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Romania Steps Up Anti-RFP; CamUa n
The US embassy in Bucharest reports that Ro-
mania's intensified campaign against Radio Free
Europe also contains veiled potshots at the Soviets.
The embassy sees the campaign as part of a
wider Romanian effort to counteract domestic hopes
that the European security talks will lead to freer
movement of peoples and ideas. The drive may also
be intended to develop a more credible propananda
response to Western criticism of Romania's selec-
tive implementation of the humanitarian commitments
endorsed at the Helsinki summit.
The campaign reflects Ceausescu's apparent in-
creased sensitivity to criticism from any quarter--
domestic or foreign. He faces continuing economic
headaches, accentuated by last summer's disastrous
floods; a population that has a healthy skepticism
of calls for further belt-tightening; and problems
with his CEMA partners.
Romanian media are a'so amplifying Ceausescu's
speech of T,.!cember 3, when he equated emigration
with tre~,~ . The drive is, in fact, heavily laced
with a hi,,.,,,':(..,.-than-usual patriotic pitch that im-
plies critiism of the Soviets. Regime propagan-
dists, for example, now are castigating "critics"
(read Soviet) who had said that Romanians should
"raise animals and tend pastures, leaving industry
to others."
Bucharest's explicit criticism of the West
and implicit criticism of the Soviets suggest that
Ceausescu is trying to pose as Fn independent-
minded adherent to the Helsinki principles. The
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embassy suggests---and we agree--that contrary to
the expectations of the regime, the direct attacks
on Radio Free Europe may increase the number of its
listeners and strengthen its credibility, particu-
larly among those segments of the population which
are dubious about official declarations and policies.
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December 31, 1975
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CON FII)EN'I'IAI,
Albania Maintains 't'ough Line
During the past month, Albanian politics have
featured increasing stress on ideological purity,
close ties with China, and party chief Enver Iioxha's
purge of "bureaucrats," which has apparently re-
moved those individuals who have been aurguing for
a more pragmatic and economic policy.
The party paper, Zori I Popu7.~it, has recently
printed several articles dealing with the publi-
cation of the 19th volume of the works of Enver
I-Ioxha. Predictably all of the articles condemned
the familiar demon of Soviet revisionism. No de-
tails have surfaced in these articles regarding
the recent purges of high officials in Tirana, but
it seems clear that the present leadership is united
behind Iooxha in his determination to block any
change in Albania's hard-line stance in the Commu-
nist world.
As part of their efforts to demonstrate Tirana's
unchanging line, IIoxha dnd other leading Albanian
officials have lately held receptions to honor
visiting Cambodian Prince Sihanouk. They also
offered their condolences at the Chinese embassy
on the occasion of Kang Sheng's death. Not only
were there educational and cultural exchanges be-
tween China and Albania, but an Albanian military
delegation has just completed a nearly month-long
visit to China. No formal communique was issued
on the results of the military delegation's visit,
licized in the Albanian press.
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December 31, 1975
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