Clinton Rejects Calls to Extend Bosnia Mission

President Clinton on Thursday flatly rejected any significant extension of the U.S. troop presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite mounting problems in rebuilding civilian institutions there.

Delay in withdrawal of foreign troops would only cause the parties in Bosnia to stall the political and physical reconstruction of the ethnically divided country and delay the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees, Clinton argued.

“I am convinced that we have to continue to try to work within this timetable,” Clinton said at a joint news conference here with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The Pentagon has said it will consider the U.S. military mission concluded Dec. 20, although a significant force will be in place through January during a phaseout period and some troops could remain in Bosnia longer.

Kohl endorsed Clinton’s approach, saying that keeping foreign forces in the Balkans indefinitely would be “a grave mistake.”

“I think whoever thinks that problems will become smaller when we extend the time frame is under an illusion,” Kohl said.

The U.S. and German leaders met for more than an hour Thursday morning in Milwaukee. Clinton said that, after 23 visits to Washington during his more than 13 years as German chancellor, Kohl wanted to see another part of the United States.

Together they chose Milwaukee because of its rich German culture.

They announced a new civil aviation agreement that will open each country’s airports to nearly unlimited commercial flights from the other nation. Currently, only a few airports in each country grant landing rights to each other’s airlines.

Clinton and Kohl also dropped any pretense of neutrality in the June 16 presidential election in Russia, both offering virtual endorsements of President Boris N. Yeltsin.

Kohl said: “I do hope that the present president will win the election.” He said that under Yeltsin, Russia has tried to chart a course of reform and openness to the West.

Clinton went further than he had before in making his preference clear, saying he admires the way Yeltsin has tried to “solidify democracy and bring back economic prosperity.”

“And he and the other forces of reform in Russia, it seems to me, represent the future, and we hope the Russian people will vote for the future,” Clinton said.

On Bosnia, the president’s remarks came amid recent warnings that the Balkans could revert to chaos and warfare when the thousands of North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led peacekeepers leave.

Clinton and other U.S. officials insist that full compliance with the Dayton, Ohio, peace accord that ended fighting in Bosnia last year remains in reach, despite some obvious problems.

But many outside observers contend that Bosnia is on its way to an inevitable ethnic partition. Critics cite many instances of interference with the freedom of movement that is supposed to be guaranteed by the Dayton agreement--most, but not all, of the instances caused by armed Bosnian Serbs.

Foremost among the administration’s concerns is making sure the elections now set for September occur on schedule, which the administration considers key to keeping the peace process on track. Bosnian acting President Ejup Ganic suggested this week that the Muslim-led government will not agree to elections as long as Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic--both indicted by an international war crimes tribunal for atrocities during the war--remain in positions of power.

The Clinton administration has insisted that the elections go ahead as scheduled to keep the peace process on track.

After their news conference in Milwaukee’s City Hall, Clinton and Kohl addressed about 10,000 Milwaukee residents in Pere Marquette Park.

They then went by motorcade to Miss Katie’s Diner, where the two nearly legendary trenchermen devoured a huge lunch of barbecued beef ribs and chicken wings, vegetable-meatball soup, lemon chicken, steak, meatloaf, hash brown potatoes, green beans, apple pie, beer and, for Clinton, a Diet Coke.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry emerged from the diner in the middle of lunch to say: “It’s ugly in there. Food is flying all over the place.”

Times staff writer Norman Kempster contributed to this report.