Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The Near East, South Asia, and Africa, Volume VI

Editorial Note

In late October 1949, American missions in Europe were informed that the Department of State considered that Albania should be prevented from augmenting its war potential in view of the threat to Greece and in order to maintain Yugoslavia’s strength vis-à-vis the Soviet bloc. Pursuit of such an objective involved the prevention of shipments of goods with military potential to Albania, whether from points of origin in the West or from other Soviet satellites. Efforts were inaugurated to prevent or restrict as far as possible the transit to Albania through Italy, Trieste, and Austria of items of security significance. For documentation on these efforts, see volume V, pages 61 ff.