EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79B00864A001400010122-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2005
• Sequence Number: 122
• Publication Date: January 3, 1974
• Content Type: NOTES

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#2 EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER OCI# 0546/74
3 Jan. 1974
Tito-Ceausescu Talks Postponed
Yugoslav Ambassador Njegovan in Bucharest recently
said that Tito's visit to Bucharest, planned for this month,
will be postponed until spring. The delay may well reflect
a mutual desire to avoid exacerbating bilateral strains by
premature attempts to resolve differences. Njegovan
acknowledged complications in relations, but he attempted to
put the best face possible on the squabble by asserting that
relations are "excellent" and would remain so.
Relations between the two countries have chilled as a
result of their differing attitudes toward combatants in the
Middle East war. Romanian attempts to play a mediating
role angered Belgrade whose all-out support of its nonaligned
Arab friends diverged markedly from Bucharest's more balanced
approach toward the Israeli and Arab positions. Subsequently,
Tito's friendly talks with Brezhnev in Kiev increased
Romanian suspicions of increased Soviet influence with Belgrade
and contributed to Bucharest's sense of isolation.
High level efforts to smooth over the differences in
November and December apparently failed to make any significant
progress, but they do seem to have kept the communication
channels open. Both sides may now hope that a cooling off
period will aid later efforts to restore the atmosphere of
cooperation and understanding that has characterized their
relationship, particularly since 1968.
Hungarian Retirements Accelerate
The pace of personnel actions under new cadre policies
(approved by the party in late-November) picked up over the
weekend, when two deputies in the Interior Ministry were
replaced. Earlier, the Foreign Minister was retired with
honors and replaced by his conservative first deputy.
The latest actions do not establish any pattern for
other expected personnel replacements. Of the two incumbents
removed, one was retired at the age of 52 and the other was
transferred to a comparable slot in the foreign ministry.
The apparently premature retirement of Deputy Interior
Minister Jozsef Galambos may be due to poor health. There
is little information on Galambos, but he was demoted from
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the First Deputy slot in the mid-1960's because of unspecified
health difficulties.
The two new deputies have varied backgrounds. Lajos
Karasz was promoted from within the interior ministry,
but Gyorgy Olah comes from the party apparatus. Olah has
been party first secretary in Heves district since 1965,
and previously served 7 years as head of the Szolnok
district government.
Grechko Visit to Hungary
Some unpleasantness apparently surfaced during Soviet
Defense Minister Grechko's late-December visit to Hungary,
judging by the final communique. The document claims a
spirit of "full accord and frankness", but provides no
clues on which issues required "frank" discussion. We
would speculate that Grechko's review of the troops may
have left him dismayed over the often haphazard Hungarian
approach to soldiering.
I senior Hungarian military
men were unhappy about the pending rechko visit, in part
because they did not want to host a large delegation during
the holidays. This dismay might have stemmed from an uneasy
feeling that the troops would not be in top inspection order
because of the holidays.
Grechko does not often visit Hungary, perhaps because
he well. knows the Hungarians do not approach military
matters with Prussian-like zeal. The Hungarian military is
used extensively in the economy because of manpower shortages.
Poland: Trumping Your King
The Gierek regime, demonstrating its continuing intolerance
with local'miscreants, has sentenced several members of the
national bridge team to prison terms ranging from two to
eight years for alleged currency violations during inter-
national tournaments. Specifically, the bridge players (whose
scores remain unreported) are accused of smuggling out $130,000
US dollars in currency and returning home with 167 pounds in
gold. It is clear, from the evidence at hand, that Warsaw
does not intend to impinge on the purity of its principles.
The destiny of the gold has not yet been reported
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