SOVIET UNION EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A002200160001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 21, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Secret
2UIFf~ X10
E
Soviet Union
Eastern Europe
Secret
State Dept. review completed
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November 21, 1975
No. 0776/75
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CONTENTS
November 21, 1975
USSR-Angola: Press Coverage Continues Heavy. . .
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CEMA Summit in Mid-December?.
Yugoslavs Defend Their Role
in the Latest Postponement
of the European Communist Conference. . . . . . 7
Yugoslavia-USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Yugoslavs Sensitive to Changes in Albania . . . . 11
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USSR-Angola: Press Coverage Continues Heavy
Soviet press coverage of the civil war in
Angola remains extremely heavy. Pravda, Izvestiya
and the Soviet news agency Tass are hammering away
at the alleged intervention by outside forces--
Chinese, South African, Zairian, former Portuguese
"fascists," and "American mercenaries"---on behalf
of the Popular Movement's rivals.
Moscow has reserved some of its heaviest
brickbats for the Chinese. The Soviet central press
recently blasted Peking for its criticism of Moscow's
"expansion" and "interference" in Angola. Reflecting
Soviet sensitivity to these charges, the commentary
railed against Peking's own military, financial,
and training support for anti-MPLA forces as well
as its collusion with "Portuguese fascists, South
African racists, and international monopolies."
Anti-Soviet vitriol has been a standard feature
of Chinese commentary on the Angolan conflict for
some time. The effort to embarrass Moscow for its
involvement with the Popular Movement for the
Liberation of Angola has gained momentum, however,
since Peking lowered the visibility of its own
involvement by withdrawing Chinese advisers from
Zairian training programs for the National Front
late last month. Since then, People's Daily has
carried two commentator articles lambasting Soviet
meddling in Angola, and the traditional independence
day editorial gave heavy play to the same theme.
NCNA has also carried several lengthy reports
focusing on the Soviet role in Angola, and its
daily broadcasts have been saturated with replays
of anti-Soviet articles and statements from a
number of African capitals. Chinese propagandists
have had a field day rehashing the generally nega-
tive African reaction to Moscow's recognition of
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the Popular Movement in contravention of the OAU's
call for neutrality in the Angolan dispute. In
contrast, Peking has prominently identified itself
as a strong supporter of OAU policies. A recent
People's Daily editorial said the OAU's call for
extension of recognition to all three Angolan liber-
ation groups and for the rival organizations to
unite was both "explicit and correct."
Pravda on November 17 carried Moscow's indig-
nation over Chinese criticism one step further by
claiming that "in the course of recent contacts in
Peking," the Chinese made an approach to the US
suggesting "paralleled or joint efforts" against
the Popular Movement. In addition to raising the
spectre of Chinese-US collusion in Angola, Pravda
replayed a British press report that "American
mercenaries"--"former veterans of Vietnam--were
serving with the movement's adversaries. The
latter charge, while not new, had been absent from
Soviet commentary for some time.
November 21, 1975
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CEMA Summit in Mid-December?
Embassy sources in Moscow and Bucharest are un-
certain when the CEMA summit will be held, although
most are guessing it will be some time after mid-
December.
Leaders of the CEMA countries are facing a
crowded schedule over the next few weeks. Bulgarian
leader Zhivkov is slated to visit West Germany No-
vember 24-28. Ceausescu is traveling in the Middle
East November 24-December 1. Czechoslovak party
chief Husak will go to Moscow before the end of No-
vember. The Soviets have scheduled important Cen-
tral Committee and Supreme Soviet meetings for De-
cember 1 and 2, respectively. In recent years the
Supreme Soviet session has lasted 3 days. That
leaves open only the weekend of December 5-7 before
the Polish party congress (opening December 8) or
some time later in December, before or after the
Cuban party congress.
if the CEMA summit is to be nothing more than
a symbolic gathering, the timing is not, all that im-
portant, but Moscow apparently does want the summit
to make some important decisions. A Soviet source
has said that the summit will take "particularly im-
portant" decisions on cooperation in raw material
exploitation and agricultural production. The more
comprehensive these proposals are, the more trouble
the Soviets will have in balancing national economic
interests. The summit will also discuss the trouble-
some issues of CEMA-EC relations and possible insti-
tutional changes within CEM.A.
The Romanians, who have publicly dissented on
the CEMA-EC issue and are wary of institutional
changes, have engaged in procedural and other delay-
ing tactics. Bucharest probably wants to clear up
bilateral economic issues with the Soviets before any
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CEMA summit. The Romanians may also calculate that
a delayed summit will give any other East Europeans
who may object to elements of Soviet economic co-
operation proposals time to firm up their own na-
tional economic plans and negotiating position before
the summit.
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Yugoslavs Defend Their Role in the Latest
Postponement of t 'e' 'European Communist Conference
The Yugoslav party, although sticking to its
conditions for participation in the proposed Euro-
pean Communist Conference, appears worried that the
Soviets are becoming irritated by the protracted
debates.
On Wednesday, as the latest preparatory phase
in East Berlin was breaking up without agreement,
Vecerne Novosti--a major Yugoslav daily--roundly
denounced Western press speculation that Belgrade
was acting from ulterior motives. The article
flatly denied, for example, that there was any link-
age between the internal drive against pro-Soviet
cominformists in Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav party's
independent tack in the Berlin preparatory meetings.
Upon returning from the GDR, the chief of the
Yugoslav delegation, Aleksandr Grlickov, said that
the continuing discussions involved points of prin-
ciple that were of "basic significance" to the in-
dividual parties. Grlickov admitted the prepara-
tions were "somewhat long" but argued that the size
of the task undertaken is the cause. Lest his posi-
tion be read as a sign of Yugoslav willingness to
back down, he reviewed his party's positions and
re-emphasized that all thematic work must be com-
pleted before any conference can convene.
Yesterday, Milika Sundic--the foreign affairs
correspondent for Radio Zagreb--expressed his con-
fidence that "unless something unforeseen happens,"
the next preparatory meeting is "likely" to "com-
pletely overcome" existing differences. Sundic's
note of optimism, however, was followed by a long
review of the independent-minded parties demands of
Moscow. He said that since no date has yet been
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set, there is still time for more talk. In conclu-
sion, Sundic specifically denied that the Yugoslav
party has any motives other than its clearly stated
goals.
it is not yet clear if the defensive tone is a
response to specific criticism of Belgrade at the
meeting in East Berlin or if it is simply an in-
stinctive Yugoslav reaction. In either case, the
Yugoslavs will be watching the Soviets closely for
a reading on how the Soviet leadership deals with
the latest postponement.
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Yugoslavia-USSR
Another senior Yugoslav party official has
openly expressed reservations about the Soviet
Union's intentions toward Yugoslavia.
Vladimir Bakaric, speaking to a Croat party
plenum on Thursday, reviewed the "machinations" of
all anti-Titoist emigre and domestic subversive
groups, but hit particularly hard at pro-Stalinists.
He said that although the Tito regime had repeatedly
asked foreign governments whether they supported
anti-Titoist subversion, it had received only
verbal reassurances about which "we can be sus-
picious." He specifically said that Yugoslav
desire for good relations with the "Eastern parties"
rests on mutual acceptance of the right to have
different foreign policies.
Bakaric attacked the pro-Soviet faction within
Yugoslavia for intentionally spreading doubts about
the country's stability in the post-Tito era. He
said this was a tactic designed to undermine confi-
dence abroad in Yugoslavia and to attract foreign
support, without which the small and unpopular
Stalinist faction cannot hope to challenge the
system.
The Bakaric speech can be read as an appeal
to the Soviets to take more forthright steps to
disassociate themselves from the Stalinist faction.
There is also an implied threat of a disruption in
Yugoslav relations with the East and, perhaps, a
more aggressive Yugoslav posture regarding divisions
with the Soviet alliance system. Bakaric reasserted
Yugoslavia's desire for good relations with all
countries in the Soviet orbit, but his speech places
the blame for the present chill in relations with
the East squarely on the Cominformistsand on the
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failure of the Soviet camp to wholeheartedly back
the Titoist system.
Anger over the Soviets' bland denials of re-
sponsibility for the comiformists' activity has
been simmering ever since the first major subversive
group was arrested in April 1974.
Whatever the views of IBakaric, the
ultimate decision on how h r to press the Soviets
remains in Tito's hands. Tito has so far refrained
personally from direct expressions of anger at the
Soviets, but his determination to keep the anti-
Cominformist campaign on a purely internal plane
may be flagging.
November 21, 1975
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Yugoslavs Sensitive to Changes in Albania
A prominent Yugoslav news commentator has com-
plained that a recent Albanian press attack on Yugo-
slav "revisionism" serves the interests of foreign
powers--read, Moscow--which want the two Balkan coun-
tries divided.
Milika Sundic, the foreign affairs commentator
for Radio Zagreb, on Tuesday denounced an editorial
in Tirana's Zeri i PopuZZit for its unwarranted
revival of polemics against Yugoslavia. Sundic's
criticism centered on the theme that well-known
ideological and political differences should not
obscure the common interest of Belgrade and Tirana
in building a working relationship based on a mutual
desire to preserve independence.
According to a version of the Zeri i PopuZZit
editorial broadcast by Radio Tirana on Sunday, only
one paragraph--in a nine-page editorial--specifically
mentioned Yugoslavia. The rest of the article was
a strong denunciation of Khrushchev's revisionist
policies in terms that could also be read as anti-
Yugoslav.
That Sundic should reply to this sally at all
suggests concern in Belgrade about the rumored polit-
ical changes at work in Tirana. A year ago, the
Hoxha regime was emphasizing common Balkan interests
in fending off Soviet influence in the region. The
Yugoslavs welcomed this trend, and they would view
a reversal in Albania's relations with its neighbors
as a tactical gain for Moscow. Belgrade is also
fully aware of the problems it would face if Tirana
reverted to its former practice of exacerbating na-
tionalist tension among Yugoslavia's Albanian mi-
nority.
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