JUGOSLOVENSKI PLAN ZA UPAD U JUGOZAPADNU BUGARSKU I LIKVIDIRANJE VMRO (1930–1939)

After the minority and terrorist action of the IMRO at the beginning of 1930, Yugoslavia decided to stop the rapprochement process with Bulgaria. At the same time, it took certain steps against this organization. One of them was the beginning of work on planning the incursion into southwestern Bulgaria and the liquidation of IMRO. In June 1930, the commander of the IIIrd Army District in Skopje, General Milan Nedić, received the order to start work on that issue. The idea was that the troops designated for this action would launch a surprise attack and quickly advance to the Struma River and Konjovska Planina, the area that represented the base for IMRO’s action towards the Yugoslav territory, and form a front there, while the border guards and gendarmes would clean the occupied territory in the background. The plan, together with the Ministry of the Army and Navy and the Main General Staff, was formulated until May 1933, when certain preparations were completed. However, at the end of the same month, the suspension of all further work on this matter was ordered. Despite this, the plan remained valid until July 1939, when, at the suggestion of the Chief of the General Staff, it was put out of force due to obsolescence and changed international circumstances.