G 48.ia3.19PJ? .VII Geneva,
11th January, 1922.
I&.GIM O-,- E X I G U S .
A L Ik liT A ..
Ilot e _ "by Jbhe _Sc cr etary-Gen oral.
The following- letter from the President of the Conference
01? imba see dors, enclosing a letter from the feerb-Croat-Slovene
Legation in Paris dated 21st December, 1921, is circulated for
the consideration of the Council and the information of the
Members of the league.
nslat ion. Paris, The President’s Office, Conference of Ambassadors, January 7th, 1922,
Sir,
In a Note, A. No. 113 dated December 21st, 1921, a copy
ox which is enclosed the Scrb-Croat-Slovene Legation has called
the attention of the Conference of Ambassadors to the anxiety
felt by the Royal Government at the concentration of Albanian
bands in the neutral Serbo-Albanian Zone. The Note further
states that the Government would be compelled to re-occupy thq
zone in question should the Tirana Government fail strictly to
observe its neutrality.
In order to obtain exact information on the situation in,
^ne demarcation zone, the Conference has decided to ask you to
request the Commission of Enquiry, sent to Albania by the Council
the League of Nations, to ascertain on the spot, whether the
2or-e in question has, in : ' . )t been evacuated.
^ric Drummond, Secretary General of the league of Nations. The ConfercY go lis.3 u r t l x e ’ecided to dispatch the
Boundary Commission, wliioh vas provided xor in the decision o£ the Principal Allied Powers, dated Movemhor 9th, 1921, to
Scutari at the earliest possible date; and also to notify the
Soih-Oroat-31 ovene Government of these decisions in-J orming it at the same tire tint tho Powers will opposo any re-occupation ox the neutral zone "by the Serbian troops.
I have, etc.
(SipnccO JUIES GAJ..ÎB01T Translation. Saris,
December 21st, 1921. Scrb-Oro.-'t-Slovono Delegation to the Conference o : Ambassadors
AT. Mo. 118.
The Conference of Ambassadors decided, on ïfbvember 13
last, to establish on the Serb-Albanian Border a demarcation -
zone which was to be Icept : roe S'rom all troops, both Serbian
and Albanian, until the frontier had been marked out on the
ground. The Conference o: Ambassadors adopted this decision
with a dual object ( 1) of ensuring complete reodom of move
ment to the Boundary Commission which was to fix the frontiers,
on the spot, and (2) o eliminating any possibility ox conflict
between the Serbian and Albanian troops while the work of this
Commission is proceeding, thus ensuring the maintenance of
good and neighbourly relations between Serbia and Albania.
These good and neighbourly relations obviously include
security both for the persons and the property of the Serbian
population settled in this neutral zone.
The Royal Government, fearing that the population
might be left without any effective protection, instructed
certain detachments of its police and gendarmerie to remain
in the neutral zone, after its regular troops had left. This
decision of the Royal Government was communicated to the
Conference of Ambassadors on the 5 th inst.
The Conference of Ambassadors, having taken note ox the
anxiety of the Serbian Government, was ox opinion that adequate
provision for the maintenance o', order in the neutral zone
the Secretariat of the C onforenco o/ Ambas sador s, .’uai d1 Orsay, Paris. - 2~
o o zlà he made by the municipalities and local authorities, and
on the 9 th in Ft., the Conference invited the Royal Govermoent to
give instructions to its police and gendarmer i e -ja s vtp.i 1 -a,R- tq^its
regular troops to evacuate the zone.
The Royal Government complied v/ith this decision ox the
Conference of Ambassadors and instructed its police and gendarmerie authorities to e va eux te the neutral zone, in which
they had "been retained provisionally. In taking this course,
the Royal Government was actuated by a desire to show-that it intended to respect the neutrality of the demarcation zone
constituted by the decision o± the Conference of Ambassadors dated 1To y ember 13th last.
The fears ot the Royal Government, to which it referred in its Note of December 5th, were, however, well-founded. Accord ing to information received at the Ministry of foreign Axxairs at Belgrade, numerous bodies of Albanian irregular troops and brigands are assembling in the neutral zone to attack both the population of Serbian nationality which remains in that zone, and
the civil omd military authorities who are being withdrawn xrom it»
The xoilowing... The following facts which hrve recently occurred may "be nient i one d :
1) 0., the 8th instant, during the evacuation of the
village of M ,iica, to the West of Topojani, the transport
of the 19th Infantry Regiment was ambushed and one soldier
was seriously wounded.
2) A patrol of the 28th infantry regiment was attacked in
the villages of the Palmano end 'Punor., and some cattle were
driven off.
3) A "bend of marauders stopped tlio transport of the 28th
infantry regiment on the 8th instant, near the village of
i.lacalari on the Diîira- Piskopeja road, and seized 24 he. ti of
cattle.
4) During the night of 8/9 instant, a hand of Albanians "broke
into the village of iLacalari, forcibly took from the Serbian
inhabitants about 40 head of crttle which it drove 5f across removed tne urin, and at the same time • all the supplies of
food in the village:
5) On the night of 8/9 instant, armed b'~nds cut the tele
graph wires at meny points on the Dibra-Piskopeja-Soliste
road, end removed the telcgr .ph poles ,
6) A large port of the Serbian populotion living in the
neutral zone has arrived at Dibra, having left their hoaes,
where a state of complete anarchy, accompanied by robberies and
acts df v.iolonce prevails, and where the Serbian population is
without any protection.
The Royal Government has moreover definite information that
the Government of Tirana is dis patching its own gendarmerie to - 4- nunorous points within the neutral zone, from which our police authorities are "being withdrawn ; the Tirana Gendarmerie has arrived at Zogaj, iruricani and Rigooin. In the district florth-Hast of Lake Scutari, Alh-^nivn troops hcve entered the n eu.tr.: 1 zone rnd occupied the new line of demarcation. Those troops ere holding in particular the eastern hank of the marshes of the Hoti, and from this point the line of demarcation as far as the post of Suke-3oz (Ljacks—Guka) to the north of Hill
1730.
By order of the Royal Government, I have the honour to bring these facts to the notice of the Conference of Ambassadors, aid to draw its attention to the drngerous position in which the berbian population in the neutral zone end in the territories allotted to Albania ie placed as a result of feuch acts on the part of the Albanians. These acts are in two respects a contravention of the Conference of Ambassadors1 decision of
November 18th. On the one hand, the zone of démarcation, which in accordance with this decision was to remain free from all troops, both Serbirn and Albanian, has only been evacuated by the
Serbi. n troops, while the Tirvn-r- Government, as had been stated, hr8 dispatched its own gendarmerie to the zone. On the other hand, the conditions of good and neighbourly relations ootveen Serbia ana Albania have not been observed by the Government
ûf Tirana, for both the Serbian population of the zone in question fnd slso the Royal troops, which are evacuating that zone, are
CxP°sed to attacks and acts of violence on the part of Albanian
6 ftds and brigands; the responsibility for such acts must clearly
1 11 on the Government of Tirana.
The Royal Government feels bound to refer to these viol tions
a decision of the Conference of Ambassadors which was accepted by the Government of Tir na, and it ocgs the Conference of
Ambassadors to tahe the necess-.ry steps to compel the
Albanian Government to observe this decision.
The Roycl Government is of the opinion thet the arrival in the demarcation zone of irréguler troops nd of '.lb an i an gendarmerie constitutes a very serious men an ce -to the Serbian population in the neutral 2 one end in the territories allotted to Albania ; rnd, to its great regret, it will feel compelled to reoccupy this zone to ensure the protection of its interests, if the Tirana Government does not strictly' observe the neutr liay of the zone of demarcation, laid down in the decision of the
Conference of Ambassadors of November 18th last.
( Signed ) BOSIEKOVITCH.