BALKANSKI SAVEZ 1953-1954. I JUGOSLOVENSKA MEDIJSKA SLIKA POLITIČKOG I GEOGRAFSKOG OKRUŽENJA
THE BALKAN ALLIANCE 1953-1954 AND THE YUGOSLAV MEDIA DEPICTION OF THE POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

Summary/Abstract: After the break with countries of the East European bloc, Yugoslavia turned to the West for political support of its independence. Yugoslavia’s political turnabout, plainly manifested by the establishment of a defense alliance with Greece and Turkey 1953-1954 and the country’s approach to entering NATO, was followed by official propaganda. The purpose of the media coverage was not only to inform but also to channel public opinion towards supporting the political goals of the ruling elite. The picture presented to the Yugoslav public of the Balkan geographical and political environment passed through several phases. Initially media reports focused on the dangers hovering over the independence of the three members of the alliance, and on past events that were supposed to prove the historical need for cooperation. Next the common trails shared by Yugoslavia, Turkey and Greece were emphasized, while ignoring at the same time past differences and conflicts. The belief that Yugoslavia’s divergence could have a disruptive effect on the stability of Albania and Bulgaria resulted in media projections of these two countries as suffering under repressive pro-Soviet regimes and seeking aid from Yugoslavia. This alluring picture of the members’ cooperation was gradually replaced by less optimistic and rather vague forecasts concerning the effects and future of the alliance, soon after the agreement on Bled had been signed on 9 August 1954. The new turn in foreign policy was prompted by renewed relations with the USSR and was immediately corresponded by the attitude of the media. The sole purpose of media reporting on general conditions in the Balkans at that time boiled down to a uniform justification of Yugoslavia’s foreign policy of the day. Each change in the global balance of power produced a shift in the position and political inclination of Yugoslavia and with it in the presentation of its geographical and political environment cast by the media.

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