Germans refuse to send troops to Bosnia

BONN - Germany has pledged to provide logistic assistance and equipment for the aid convoys to Bosnia but will not send troops, writes John Eisenhammer.

The Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, emphasised yesterday that 'Germany cannot, for the well-known historical and constitutional reasons, send military personnel'.

Earlier, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, in an effort to end speculation that Germany might be about to change its stance on Bundeswehr activities abroad, said: 'I know of no one who does not understand that after World War Two in the Balkans, in Yugoslavia, that Germany cannot afford to mount military missions.'