EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: May 15, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
107 EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER
15 May 1968
Ulbricht "Vacationing" in the USSR
East German leader Walter Ulbricht reportedly is vaca-
tioning in the USSR. Ulbricht's vacation plans were announced
by GDR media on 8 May prior to his departure for Moscow and
the "summit conference" of orthodox Eastern European communist
leaders. On 9 May it was announced that Ulbricht would
continue his vacation in the USSR following the conclusion
of the conference. Just in case anyone missed it, East Ger-
man media announced again on 12 May that the "boss" was
vacationing in, the Soviet Union.
25X1
25X1
Czechoslovak President Awards Medal to Victim of Slansky Trials
President Svoboda has awarded the Order of the Republic
posthumously to Rudolf Margolius, former Deputy Foreign
Minister who was executed in 1952 after the Slansky trials.
The award takes on significance because the Czechoslovak
press has recently accused the USSR of forcing the trials on
the Czechoslovak party, mentioning Mikoyan and other lesser
figures by name as having come to Prague with a blueprint
for the bloody purge. Slansky and others were juridically
rehabilitated in 1963, but up to now no move had been made
to restore them to places of honor in Czechoslovak history.
Moscow probably will react abrasively to Svoboda's
action and to the citation which accompanied the medal,
describing Margolius' "long, active and selfless work in
the working class movement, the Communist Party of Czecho-
slovakia, and for merits in the construction of socialism."
GROUP I
Excluded from automatic down-
grading and declassification
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
Hungarian-Polish Friendship Treaty to be Signed
Polish party boss Gomulka and Premier Cyrankiewicz
arrived in Budapest on 15 May where they will sign a new
treaty of friendship and mutual cooperation.
According; to a 15 May announcement of the Hungarian
news service, the Polish delegation also will discuss "prob-
lems of further developing Hungarian-Polish relations" and
important international problems. The Hungarians' emphasis
on bilateral relations could represent an admission that all
is not harmonious between the two parties, and is an attempt
to take the play away from the problem of Czechoslovakia.
The most glaring disparity of views lies in the parties
respective attitudes toward the Czech reforms. It is
doubtful, however, that such problems have affected the
provisions of the new treaty whose final draft was approved
almost three months ago.
Polish Ambassador to the US Jerzy Michalowski may be in
political trouble with the regime in Warsaw.
Michalowski, who was posted to Washington only last year,
told a State Department officer recently that he would invite
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
him to lunch in a week or so, "If I am still alive then."
When the officer suggested that Michalowski was joking the
Ambassador replied, "I hope I am."
Albanian Treatment of Czech National Day
For the first time in recent years Albania gave low-key
recognition to Czech National Day on 9 May. Two low level
government officials attended a reception at the Czech em-
bassy in Tirana and President of the Presidium, Haxhi Lleshi,
expressed Albania's good will to the people of Czechoslovakia
in a telegram to President Svoboda.
What this sudden departure from the Albanian norm means
is not clear. In the final analysis it may reflect the dilemma
Tirana finds itself in--the Hoxha regime is undoubtedly pleased
with the breakdown of Soviet hegemony, but paradoxically
finds the independent and liberal measures adopted by Dubcek
as unacceptable ideologically as the Soviet inspired policies
of the Novotny regime.
Yugoslav Medical Personnel Protest Delays in Salary Payments
All medical personnel of Ljubljana's hospitals and
clinics--except for emergency crews--walked off the job for
several hours on 18 April in an unprecedented protest be-
cause of an 18?-day delay in salary payments.
This protest is only one of a number recently reported
in the press and is indicative of the increasingly serious
financial straits in which Yugoslav enterprises are finding
themselves. While the issue of prompt salary payments is
only one of the numerous problems facing the Yugoslav economy,
the fact that the country's health and welfare services are
now directly affected by Yugoslavia's economic difficulties
underscores the seriousness of the problem.
25X1
25X1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3
Slovenian-East German Joint Enterprise Agreed Upon
Another major joint investment agreement was signed on
20 April between Cinkarna (zinc works) of Celje, Slovenia
and the Vereinigung Volkseigener Betriebe Lank and Farben
of East Berlin.
The agreement is for a 15-year joint investment for
construction and operation in Celje of a $22 million titanium-
dioxide plant? Yugoslav participation is set at 51% and East
Germany at 49%. Belgrade appears to have timed the signing
to follow closely the joint agreement signed between Zastava
automobile works in Serbia and Fiat works of Italy to demon-
strate Yugoslavia's non-alignment as a market for foreign
investments. The East German agreement also helps Yugoslav
economic reformers counter charges that foreign investment
in Yugoslavia represents the opening wedge of a movement
to reestablish capitalism in Yugoslavia.
German-Soviet Friendship Society Founded in West Berlin
The West Berlin Republican Club has advocated cooperation
between the city's leftist student groups and the West Berlin
SED (communist) party. The call for cooperation by the ultra
leftist organization is more a pro forma gesture on the Club's
part, since the SED-West has been aiding the leftiststudents
in demonstrations for some time. One possible result of the
announcement may be the establishment of a German-Soviet
Friendship Society in West Berlin located on the busy
Kurfuerstendamm. Soviet Ambassador to East Germany, Pyotr
Abrasimov, was the new Society's first guest on 13 May.
NOTE: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ABOVE REPRESENT
ONLY THE ANALYSIS OF THE EE DIVISION
25X1
25X1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/15: CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010037-3