Opening the Danube

Since the Middle Ages, when Austrian robber barons stretched huge iron chains across the Danube, commerce on Europe's oldest highway has been free for only 18 years--from 1921 to 1939 under the provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty.

First Hitler and then Stalin in effect restored the chains. Last week, signing two agreements with non-Soviet nations, the Communists agreed that the Blue Danube would no longer be exclusively Red.

The first agreement is commercial: Austria and Communist Hungary will exchange passengers, and freight on the Danube. Austrian ships will be permitted to sail through Hungary and to the Black Sea; Hungarian ships may pass upriver through Austria to trade with Germany.

In the second agreement, Yugoslavia and Rumania set up a joint administration for the Iron Gate, a rocky canyon on the Danube where it passes between the two nations. A canal bypasses the gorge.

Until recently, satellite shipping moved through Yugoslavia, but Tito's ships were constantly harassed by Rumanian officials at the gate. Then Tito blocked satellite traffic on the Yugoslav side. At the same time, he tested the Kremlin by inviting Rumania to set up a joint-control board.

Last week the Communists agreed and the Iron Gate opened. It was the first time Communist Tito and his Communist neighbors had exchanged helpful gestures since his defection in 1948.

If this agreement indicates that Tito and his neighbors may come to live in peace if not in harmony, the U.S. took no notice. Last week the U.S. Army, in an offshore procurement deal, agreed to buy $5 million worth of ammunition made in Communist Yugoslavia. The bullets will be turned over to the Yugoslavs for their own use.

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