Not Always

Not all Balkan crises lead to threats, overt acts, wars. During the past month a once healthy-looming crisis blew up, blew over, scarcely titillated the news cables of the world. Bulgarian comitadjis, "irregulars" (near-bandits), staged an impromptu raid across the Jugoslav frontier. Soon a collective note ("ultimatum") was despatched by Jugoslavia, Rumania and Greece demanding that Bulgaria disband and disperse her comitadjis. Though these highly irregular gentry are not easily to be disbanded--even by the government to which they owe nominal allegiance--the Bulgarian Foreign Office drafted and despatched a sufficiently conciliatory reply to Jugoslavia, Rumania and Greece last week, expressed determination to "safeguard the peace of Bulgaria's frontiers."