EC Urges Armed Force for Keeping Yugoslavia Peace
The European Community on Monday urged that a peacekeeping force be deployed in Yugoslavia, where repeated cease-fires and peace talks have failed to slow the pace of war engulfing the nation.
In a statement issued on behalf of the EC, the Dutch Foreign Ministry urged the nine-nation Western European Union to consider deploying a lightly armed force because of “the deterioration of the situation” in Yugoslavia. The group is a London-based organization of European nations cooperating in defense-related matters.
EC leaders have stopped short of considering military intervention in Yugoslavia, but many have said they would be ready to do so if the conflict threatens to worsen.
The fighting that rages in Yugoslavia is as intense as at any time since it began 11 weeks ago. More than 400 people have died in ethnic clashes since Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence on June 25.
The EC said Monday it is urging military action because an unarmed, EC-sponsored force now there has had little success in getting the warring parties to comply with cease-fires.
Serbia, the largest republic, has strongly opposed the intervention of European troops favored by its neighbor Croatia.
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