The EEC’s Yugoslav Policy in Cold War Europe, 1968-1980 by Benedetto Zaccaria

Author:Benedetto Zaccaria
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London

The signing of the Treaty of Osimo between Rome and Belgrade in November 1975 was also closely linked to fears for Yugoslavia’s internal stability.27 The agreement, which officially recognised Belgrade’s sovereignty over zone B, as established by the Memorandum of London of 1954, was mainly motivated by the need to close the border question definitively before Tito’s death, in order to avoid facing a pro-Soviet Yugoslav leadership after the Marshal’s passing.28 Italy’s Community partners had not been informed about the secret negotiations between Rome and Belgrade until late September 1975. Yet, when the Italian ambassador Giuseppe Walter Maccotta informed his EEC colleagues in Belgrade about the forthcoming conclusion of the Italo-Yugoslav controversy, they expressed their satisfaction with the result achieved by Rome.29 As noted by Brian Cartledge, head of the Eastern Europe and Soviet Department of the British Foreign Office: ‘The agreement is, of course, excellent news. The Trieste issue is one which has been exploited to Western disadvantage in the past. After Tito’s departure, it might well have been used in this way again30’.

Once combined, all these factors—the crisis of Yugoslavia’s place in the NAM, Belgrade’s strained relationship with Moscow, and the open question of ‘After Tito, what?’—highlighted Yugoslavia’s extremely precarious international position, which was further exacerbated by the rapid deterioration of Tito’s health between September and October 1976.31

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