Yugoslavia: Recognizable?

Yugoslavia, the land of the southern Slavs, has no national definition other than as a federation of six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. But three of the six--Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia--have now won international diplomatic recognition as independent states, and a fourth, Macedonia, is seeking recognition. Yugoslavia has thus experienced a piecemeal, de facto loss of diplomatic recognition.

As long ago as last November, this newspaper urged the Bush Administration to make that de facto loss de jure. At that time the Administration was standing by official Yugoslavia as, earlier, it had stood by the official Soviet Union. The American tilt was toward the preservation of order rather than toward any of the contending southern Slav ethnic groups. But its assumption--that a peaceful and comprehensive transition from Yugoslavia to a successor state or states could be managed--was even then indefensible.

Our allies in the European Community believed, correctly, that peace had been so shattered that granting recognition to Slovenia and Croatia was the only practical course. The United States has now followed the EC lead and gone on to grant recognition to Bosnia as well. Moreover, Secretary of State James A. Baker III has threatened Serbia with exclusion from the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a major international forum, unless Serbian aggression against Bosnia is halted.

Washington’s stronger and more properly first step, however, is the withdrawal of diplomatic recognition from Yugoslavia. Like the EC, the United States should hold out the promise of eventual recognition to Serbia as, in principle, to the remaining two Yugoslav republics (Montenegro and Macedonia). But the continuation of diplomatic recognition can no longer be justified for a Yugoslavia that has become nothing more than Serbia pursuing unacceptable territorial ambitions by ruthless military means.