Political relations between Yugoslavia and Italy 1968-1975

Abstract

The PhD dissertation deals with political relations between Yugoslavia and Italy in the period from the military intervention of five members of the Warsaw Pact against Czechoslovakia in 1968 until the signing of the Treaty of Osimo in 1975. The paper starts with analyses of the consequences which the developments in Czechoslovakia left on Yugoslav-Italian relations. The Yugoslav disagreement with the politics of the Soviet Union and its opposition to the military intervention removed all Italian doubts regarding independence of Yugoslav foreign policy and its connections with the East and opened a new phase in their relations, characterized by attempts of both parties to intensify their cooperation in many fields. In the same time, Italians initiated opening of confidential talks in order to definitely regulate the issue of interstate border and resolve all other issues pertaining to the border which had remained open ever since the end of the World War Two. The main goal of the paper is to analyse, on the basis of unpublished and published documents from several national and foreign archives and relevant literature, the fundamental characteristics of political relations between the two states in the time of the last phase of the long-lasting process of definite interstate bordering and resolution of some other opened issues. The paper is also an attempt to observe these relations in the broader context of the Cold War, i.e. to analyse the role of big powers, particularly the USA, in the Yugoslav-Italian relations. In the period from 1968 to 1970, through public statements, frequent visits of state officials, benevolent attitude towards minorities at both sides of the border, deepening and expansion of economic cooperation, planning of joint activities in wider international sphere and consultancies of the two ministries of foreign affairs, both states attempted to demonstrate the good neighbourhood and cooperation policy. The problems pertaining to the interstate border and resolution of other issues in relation thereto, such is the regulation of the status of Slovenian minority in Italy, were not in the forefront, but their resolution was left to confidential talks at the experts level. The change occurred during the preparations for the visit of Yugoslav president Josip Broz to Italy, planned for December 1970. Due to the pressure which Slovenia exercised upon the highest state officials, Yugoslavia attempted to use that visit for resolving some of the disputable issues. Italy, on the other hand, concerned for its own rightist and irredentist circles which opposed the visit, wanted it to be of more ceremonial character...

Doktorska disertacija se bavi političkim odnosima Jugoslavije i Italije u periodu od vojne intervencije pet članica Varšavskog ugovora na Čehoslovačku 1968. do potpisivanja Osimskih sporazuma 1975. godine. Na početku rada se ispituju posledice koje su na jugoslovensko-italijanske odnose ostavila dešavanja u Čehoslovačkoj. Neslaganje Jugoslavije sa politikom Sovjetskog Saveza i protivljenje vojnoj intervenciji uklonilo je sve dotadašnje sumnje Italije u pogledu nezavisnosti jugoslovenske spoljne politike i njene vezanosti za Istok i otvorilo novu fazu u odnosima koja se odlikovala nastojanjem obe države da intenziviraju saradnju na mnogim poljima. Istovremeno, Italijani su dali inicijativu da započnu poverljivi razgovori kako bi se definitivno regulisalo pitanje međudržavnog razgraničenja i rešila sva druga pitanja vezana za granicu koja su bila otvorena još od kraja Drugog svetskog rata. Glavni cilj rada je da se na osnovu neobjavljenih i objavljenih dokumenata iz više domaćih i stranih arhiva i relevantne literature analiziraju osnovne karakteristike političkih odnosa dveju država u vreme kada se odvijala poslednja faza u dugotrajnom procesu definitivnog međudržavnog razgraničenja i regulisanja pojedinih drugih otvorenih pitanja. Rukopis, takođe, predstavlja pokušaj da se ovi odnosi sagledaju u širem kontekstu Hladnog rata, odnosno da se analizira uloga velikih sila, posebna SAD, u jugoslovensko-italijanskim odnosima. U periodu od 1968 do 1970. godine obe države nastojale su da javnim izjavama, čestim posetama državnih zvaničnika, blagonaklonim stavom prema manjinama sa obe strane granice, produbljivanjem i proširivanjem ekonomske saradnje, planiranjem zajedničkih aktivnosti na širem međunarodnom planu i konsultacijama dvaju ministarstava inostranih poslova manifestuju politiku dobrosusedstva i saradnje. Problemi vezani za međudržavno razgraničenje i rešavanje drugih pitanja vezanih za granicu, poput regulisanja statusa slovenačke manjine u Italiji, nisu bili u prvom planu, već je njihovo rešavanje bilo prepušteno poverljivim razgovorima na nivou eksperata. Do promene je došlo na decembra 1970. godine u vreme kada je bila planirana poseta jugoslovenskog predsednika Josipa Broza Italiji. Zahvaljujući pritisku koji su na državni vrh vršili Slovenci, Jugoslavija je nastojala da posetu iskoristi kako bi rešila neka od spornih pitanja. Italija je, sa druge strane, zbog obzira prema sopstvenoj desnici i iredentističkim krugovima koji su se tome protivili, želela da poseta bude manifestacionog karaktera...