The Presidential Years 375
artificial construct, given that its population was historically and linguistically
of Bulgarian origin. The Belgrade authorities were convinced that the Italian
position regarding Zone B did not have any support in NATO, but they were
also convinced that Sofia could not have conducted its irredentist policy with-
out Moscow’s assent. Consequently they considered Bulgaria the most dan-
gerous satellite neighbor.^608 To stress the integrity of the borders drawn in
Europe after the Second World War, they believed it necessary to solve the
frontier quarrel with Italy as soon as possible. After a period of coldness in 1967,
confidential discussions developed between Belgrade and Rome at the end of
the decade, which the Italian right boycotted, forcing the shaky coalition gov-
ernment in Rome to back away from the nearly completed settlement. In
December 1970 mutual relations were so tense as to induce Tito, on the eve of
his visit to Rome, to cancel it altogether. In any case, in the following months,
the diplomatic dialogue was resumed, and the foreign ministers managed to
arrange Tito’s visit to Rome in March 1971, though this did not resolve the
controversy about Zone B.^609
Tito and the Holy SeeThe most memorable event of Tito’s journey to Italy was his meeting with
Pope Paul VI: it marked the first time that the president of a socialist state had
entered the apostolic palaces. Relations between the Holy See and Belgrade
had been very tense from 1946 on because of the political trial of the archbishop
of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac, which was carried out in spite of Tito’s doubts
as to its necessity. Accused of having cooperated with the Ustaša during and
after the war, Stepinac, who declined the offer to go into exile, was sentenced
to sixteen years of hard labor. Relations deteriorated further in 1952, when Pope
Pius XII elevated Stepinac to the rank of cardinal, causing Belgrade to break
diplomatic relations with the Vatican.^610 Tito could not understand why the
pope had decided to take this openly hostile decision at a time when he was
mortally endangered by Stalin, especially as he had been careful enough to
release Stepinac from prison in 1951, confining him instead to his native village.
This act of mercy did not satisfy the Catholic Church. In the eyes of believers
all over the world, the cardinal remained a victim of Tito’s regime. This stirred
up feelings against Yugoslavia especially in the United States, where Stepinac
was considered a martyr. Only after his death in 1960 and his burial in Zagreb
Cathedral did relations improve. The fact that Tito permitted this in spite of
the opposition of Croat party leaders did not go unnoticed in the Vatican. The
successor of Pius XII, John XXIII, renewed dialogue shortly after the begin-
ning of his pontificate, recognizing the postwar changes in Yugoslavia and dis-
tancing himself from the Ustaša diaspora. When Tito visited Latin America,