'Ethnic' talks agreed

BRUSSELS - A plan to ease ethnic tensions and smooth over border conflicts will be launched at a special summit next March, probably in Athens, officials said yesterday. But the plan is unlikely to make any difference to the rumbling threat of wider conflict in the Balkans, writes Andrew Marshall.

The plan, initiated by Edouard Balladur, the French Prime Minister, was agreed yesterday by European Union leaders meeting for their twice- yearly summit. It would create a new pan-European framework for defusing tensions, with a set of bilateral deals supporting it.

The idea adds to the stack of multilateral packages that have been liberally scattered around the continent, including those by the Conference on Co-operation and Security in Europe and the Council of Europe. The Balladur plan is the first to emerge after the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia, and is clearly aimed at preventing a repeat performance.

However, it has done little to ease the fears of Central and Eastern European countries, most of which are pressing instead for membership of Nato and security guarantees, or at the least, the right to consult. Nato's own effort to fill the security vacuum in the east, 'Partnership for Peace', received a lukewarm welcome from Central and Eastern Europe. In the same way, the Balladur plan has received little enthusiasm from Prague, Warsaw or Budapest.

The plan is unlikely to extend to the areas of the Balkans where trouble is brewing, as Greece insisted that Macedonia be excluded from the conference, according to officials of other delegations. Greece is also pressing its partners not to go ahead with recognising the state, claiming that Macedonia has designs on Greek territory.

The Balladur initiative will take about a year to negotiate, according to EU officials, as the first summit will be followed by a series of meetings, culminating in the signing of accords either later next year or the year after. Britain, which initially had reservations about the accord, had these eased when it became clear that no question of security guarantees was involved.

EU foreign ministers also met to discuss the Balkans yesterday, with Lord Owen giving a report. The EU's inability to handle the Yugoslav conflict, and the dissension the issue has caused in Nato, have shaken both institutions, and led to a rethinking of the way that such conflicts should be handled in future.