EC Aides Meet With Yugoslavs, Agree to Try to Arrange a Truce in Croatia

The European Community, fearing the collapse of the fragile new order in Eastern Europe, met Yugoslav federal leaders Monday and agreed to send a new ministerial mission to try to broker a cease-fire in the rebel republic of Croatia.

“If Yugoslavia falls into a pattern of daily killing, that would be a deep reproach and danger for all of us in Europe,” British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd told reporters.

Four more people were reported killed Monday in clashes in Croatia.

EC foreign ministers agreed with Prime Minister Ante Markovic and three other Yugoslav leaders to increase the number of EC observers in the country from the current 50 to as many as 150.

Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek of the Netherlands, who chaired the talks, said this increase would depend on all warring parties signing the cease-fire and guaranteeing the safety of the observers.

Markovic said Yugoslavia faces anarchy, fresh conflict and a social explosion if it does not quickly restore a lasting peace with the help of the 12-nation EC.

Markovic, Foreign Minister Budimir Loncar and two members of Yugoslavia’s collective presidency agreed to a Dutch plan to set up joint patrols of units of the federal army and the Croatian national guard.

All other forces would return to barracks or, in the case of Serbian guerrillas trying to carve away a part of Croatian territory, disband and be sent home.