Improvement in Greece
There is something to be said for breaking away from the custom that Greece only gets into the news when the news is bad. It is still much too early to expect the total dispersal of such a peck of troubles, but lately nearly all the news from Greece has been good. At last the Greek army's offensive against the rebels is producing tangible results, which can now hardly be upset overnight by new infiltrations from the north. Morale is stiffening throughout Greece, from the remotest military outpost to the centre of government in Athens. American arms and advice have no doubt helped on the military side, economic life has benefited both from Marshall aid and from the general slackening of tension, and political circles have been inspired to new levels of responsibility. The notes recently addressed by the Greek Government to the Governments of those Balkan countries which have been concerned in the abduction of Greek children, and to the United Nations on the whole subject of relations between Greece and Albania, have been correct, moderate and—since there is no doubt as to where the right lies in these matters—forbearing. The recent prepared demonstrations that some of the children who were carried off to the north to be educated on Communist lines are now living in reasonably sanitary conditions do nothing to palliate the original crime. A United Nations special committee on the Balkans, plodding on as usual with its heartbreaking task, has pointed out that even where conditions in the areas upset by the Greek rebels were such as to make the removal of children advisable for humanitarian reasons, abduction without consultation with the proper international organisations was still not justified., In this, as in everything else, " General " Markos and his followers are dearly in the wrong. It also appears from recent equivocal peace overtures made from his radio station that he is deep in trouble. There is still a flicker of hope for peace.
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