U.S. Vows Never to Accept Serb Seizures of Land

Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger, predicting that the civil war in shattered Yugoslavia will be a long one, told Serbia on Thursday that the United States will never recognize its seizure of territory in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.

Eagleburger, a former U.S. ambassador to Belgrade, denounced Serbia as “certainly the fundamental aggressor,” but he also accused Croatia of taking chunks of Bosnia-Herzegovina and blamed Bosnian Muslim forces for “some pretty unpleasant activities.”

Eagleburger will take over for Secretary of State James A. Baker III on Monday and fly to London for a European Community conference on the conflict in the Balkans. Baker resigned last week to work for President Bush’s reelection. Eagleburger will carry the title of acting secretary of state.

In an interview with the Voice of America and the U.S. Information Agency, Eagleburger said that the United States would be willing to use force in the Balkans only “in the narrow limits” to ensure that relief supplies are delivered. “All of us have to be very careful to make sure there is a fine break there beyond which we do not go,” he said.

From the U.S. point of view, he said, there will be no recognition of Serbia’s territorial gains in Croatia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nor, he said, would the United States ever accept Croatia’s seizure of parts of Bosnia.

Eagleburger said that the objective of next week’s conference in London should be to agree on relatively modest steps, such as establishing greater involvement of the United Nations and better coordination with the European Community.

In London, Britain’s Foreign Office said that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will attend next week’s conference. Milosevic is a hard-liner accused of backing ethnic Serbian rebels in Bosnia who want to remain linked to the remains of the old Yugoslav federation.

Meanwhile, bloodshed continued without letup in Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo, where mortar shells slammed into the main boulevard, killing at least six people trying to find bread and water after some of the heaviest shelling in weeks.