Bitter Words by Serbs, Croats at Peace Meeting

A 12-nation European Community conference called to search for a peaceful solution to the Yugoslav conflict opened here Saturday with a blistering exchange between Serbs and Croats and little hope for a quick settlement of what amounts to a civil war.

The Yugoslav crisis “not only threatens the security of the Balkan region but that of Europe as a whole,” said Hans van den Broek, the Dutch foreign minister and EC conference host.

“Yugoslavia is on the brink of full-scale civil war, if it has not already crossed that line,” he said.

British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, noting that the fighting has left hundreds dead in recent weeks, stated: “Europe is on the edge of a disaster on this question of Yugoslavia.”

The conference was attended by European Community foreign ministers, by the presidents of the six Yugoslav republics, the collective presidency led by Stipe Mesic of Croatia and delegates from Yugoslavia’s federal government.

Meanwhile, violence appeared to have slackened in Croatia--but there was still new fighting despite a cease-fire agreement signed by all parties last Monday.

Skirmishes between Croatian forces and Serbian irregulars were reported in western Croatia, and infantry dueled anew for control of the Belgrade-Zagreb superhighway, Europe’s link with Greece, Turkey and the Middle East.

Five soldiers, at least two of them Croats, died in fighting along the road near the towns of Nova Gradiska and Okucani, according to reports reaching Belgrade.

Serbian irregulars have blocked the road since midweek at an intersection about 75 miles southeast of the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

The army charged Saturday that Croatian troops fired mortars at its forces near Okucani, the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported. At least 17 people died in fighting Friday as EC envoy Henri Wijnaendts continued his shuttle diplomacy, seeking in-the-field agreement to observe the ignored cease-fire.

Some Serbian irregulars in areas they occupy in eastern Croatia signed the accord to avoid being blamed if fighting is renewed, the federalist newspaper Borba said.

Wijnaendts on Friday also won agreement between Croatian forces and the army not to fire first in Osijek, a battered Croatian regional capital, but fighting flared anew almost immediately. At least six people died there Friday, and the city was reported tense Saturday amid rumors of an impending major Serbian assault.

Germany, whose sympathies are with Croatia, said Saturday that it had protested to Yugoslavia after army units fired on a helicopter in which Wijnaendts was touring battle areas Friday with a German cease-fire observer. There were no casualties.

Europe’s long-shot peace plan calls for unarmed cease-fire observers from its 12 member states in Croatia. But none have been deployed because their safety cannot be guaranteed in Yugoslavia’s uninterrupted bloodletting.

The diplomats in The Hague, with former British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington as chairman, met for three hours in the red-brick Peace Palace, the scene of many peace negotiations during this century and the site of the World Court.

Outside, an estimated 20,000 Croats and ethnic Albanians demonstrated, mostly with anti-Serbian shouts, slogans and banners.

The EC ministers appeared unpleasantly surprised by the bitter accusations exchanged by the presidents of Serbia and Croatia. The first words by Croatia’s Franjo Tudjman were: “A dirty, undeclared war against the Republic of Croatia has been going on in defiance of all rules of international law for over a year now.

“Cultural monuments and religious edifices are being deliberately bombed, and even hospitals, nursing homes and kindergartens have not been spared.

“A cruel war is being waged in the center of Europe because a people voted in favor of independence,” he continued. “Its aim is not only the conquest and annexation of Croatian territory but also the creation of ethnically ‘pure’ areas within Greater Serbia by expelling all non-Serb inhabitants--Croats, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and Italians.”

In reply, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic insisted that the Yugoslav crisis was “the result of a unilateral, secessionist policy, first of Slovenia and then of Croatia.

“Their policy of secession has opened up the problem of frontiers, sovereignty and violation of human rights, which led to conflicts and bloodshed,” Milosevic said.

“The Croatian government immediately imposed ruthless discrimination with regard to the Serbs by violating their unalienable human rights and constant armed attacks on the territories inhabited by the Serbs,” he added.

Milosevic argued that “international recognition of the republics which have initiated secession would, actually, mean recognition of illegal and unilateral acts imposed by force which violate peace and fundamental national rights.”

For his part, Mesic told the opening session: “War cannot be the solution to the Yugoslav crisis. This can only be done through peaceful means, respecting the rights of all, starting from the principle that borders cannot be changed.

“Europe’s help is welcome,” he added, “as the mistrust of the Yugoslav leaders has been transferred to the people.”

But Britain’s Hurd declared that it is up to the Yugoslavs to find a solution and not have one imposed from the outside.

“Our common aim is to bring peace to all in Yugoslavia,” the EC’s opening declaration said. “. . . We are determined never to recognize changes of any borders which have not been brought about by peaceful means and by agreement.”

The EC cut off financial aid to Yugoslavia after fighting broke out, and several Yugoslav officials complained here privately that the economy is suffering from such sanctions.

During Saturday’s session, the Europeans tried to set up a five-member judicial arbitration commission that would attempt to sort out differences among the warring factions.

Jurists from Germany, France and Italy have been selected, but the Yugoslavs were unable to agree on the names of two others, and those remain vacant.

After Saturday’s meeting, Lord Carrington admitted that his task was “humbling,” but he added: “We shouldn’t despair before we’re even started.”

Carrington will spend the next several days talking to the Yugoslav factions, aides said, and another formal meeting will be held Thursday.

Tuohy reported from The Hague and Montalbano reported from Belgrade.