Summary/Abstract: The mass migration from socialist Yugoslavia, which reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was triggered by both internal and external factors. The key internal factor that generated the phenomenon of mass emigration from socialist Yugoslavia was the enormous pressure on the domestic labor market, which was a collateral consequence of the economic reform implemented in the mid-1960s. On the other hand, the most developed Western European countries were in desperate need of additional sources of labor force. The emigration of hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavs to the West (primarily to Western Europe) brought significant benefits to Yugoslavia (departure of redundant workers, remittances from guest workers), but it also posed considerable challenges to Belgrade. The Yugoslav regime was particularly concerned about negative consequences of this mass migration for the security of the Yugoslav system. The Yugoslav People's Army feared, above all, the influence of political emigration and foreign intelligence services on conscripts from Yugoslavia working abroad, as well as the impossibility of conducting full mobilization in extraordinary circumstances. In fact, the Yugoslav regime was provided with the information on possible obstructions of the return of Yugoslav conscripts to Yugoslavia in the case of Yugoslavia's entry into the war by the governments of Western European countries. Being aware of this potential risk, the Yugoslav regime contemplated measures to limit these effects of the mass labor migration from Yugoslavia.
