Aspin Consults Europeans on Bosnia Policy

MUNICH, Germany — The Clinton Administration sounded out America’s European allies Saturday on various ideas for dealing with the conflict in Bosnia and said it will disclose a new “framework” for action this week.

After a day of frenetic consultations with allied leaders, Defense Secretary Les Aspin said through a spokesman that he plans to brief President Clinton on the Europeans’ views after he returns to Washington today.

He said Clinton will make final decisions on the Administration’s new policy on Bosnia-Herzegovina shortly afterward.

Although Aspin would not specify what ideas he discussed with the Europeans, Clinton is said to be considering proposing new Balkan peace negotiations and sending a special envoy to shepherd the talks.

Aspin, in a toast at a Bavarian state dinner, also called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to take a more activist role in resolving the crisis in Bosnia and in other peacekeeping operations around the world.

“The conflict (in Bosnia) cannot be allowed to spread,” he said. “We must summon the imagination and courage to redirect our alliance in this direction.” He offered no details, however.

Aspin’s hastily arranged visit here, which followed an urgent meeting of the President and his national security advisers Friday, marked the first overseas trip by a member of Clinton’s Cabinet.

Among those with whom Aspin met Saturday were German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd and the defense ministers of France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. He also met with the Canadian defense minister.

Aspin also plans to meet with Italy’s defense minister, Salvo Ando, before flying back to Washington today.

The sessions with the officials were arranged in conjunction with the Munich Conference on Security Policy, an annual meeting of defense experts from around the world.

Also Saturday, U.N. aid flights to Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, were halted indefinitely after antiaircraft fire struck a German transport plane, officials said.

The Bosnian problem was not the only issue on Aspin’s agenda. He said he also sought to reassure Europeans that Clinton still is interested in European security, despite his plans to cut U.S. troops there further.

Aspin said he also discussed the situation in Iraq with the European leaders. The Administration is in the early stages of drafting its own policy on Iraq, after having followed the George Bush Administration’s for several weeks.

There was no immediate reaction from the European leaders present. Hurd said in a speech here that “a lot of common ground is emerging” on how to handle the Bosnia problem, but he did not spell out any details.

Still, both Hurd and Kohl hinted in speeches that their governments prefer that Clinton, despite his misgivings, support the peace settlement proposed by U.N. envoy Cyrus R. Vance and European Community negotiator Lord Owen.

Clinton has complained that the Vance-Owen plan, which would divide Bosnia into 10 provinces, is flawed because it would allow rebel Serbs to keep the land they captured in battle. But the Europeans have been pressing the Administration to embrace the Vance-Owen proposal and join them in trying to pressure Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia to accept it. Many regard it as the only workable alternative.

Aspin’s call for NATO to take more concerted action to help deal with the situation in Bosnia was regarded as part of the effort to hammer out a new White House policy. But he offered no further details.

He also asserted that the Administration’s plan to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Europe merely reflects the easing of the Cold War threat following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and not a lesser U.S. commitment to Europe.

Despite the cutbacks, Washington “will retain credible forces in Europe” for the foreseeable future, the secretary said.

Aspin also insisted repeatedly that the Administration plans to consult closely with Russia in shaping any new proposal involving Bosnia--partly to guard against Russian opposition to any new move.

The Russians, who traditionally have had close ties with the Serbs, have complained that the allies’ actions have been too one-sided, and have threatened to oppose any anti-Serbian action in the United Nations.

“We need the Russians big-time in this thing,” Aspin said.

Aspin said he had seized on the Munich security conference as a convenient way to meet with European defense officials. The former congressman from Wisconsin had been a regular participant each year as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Despite a relatively upbeat stance, those traveling with Aspin’s party here sought to discourage any notion that he obtained full agreement from the allies on any specific course of action on the Bosnian problem.

“He’s not coming back with a silver bullet,” one said. “The President is thinking about these issues over the weekend,” he said. “I expect there will be at least a kind of framework within the next week.”

Aspin’s call for NATO to become more active in dealing with Bosnia followed a suggestion by Canadian Maj. Gen. Willis McKinsey, the U.N. commander there, that the allies no longer rely on the United States to handle the situation.

McKinsey said the allies should look instead to an organization that is better equipped to deal with combatants. NATO already is operating a blockade against Serbia in the Adriatic Sea.