Letter: Bosnia - British stance; reactions to the camps; methods of military intervention; 'ethnic cleansing'

Sir: As teachers of Balkan history at British universities, we feel that we must protest at the feeble and short-sighted stance taken by the British government towards Bosnia.

It is obvious to us that Bosnian integrity must be defended and respected, and that if it is not, fighting will spread to other parts of the Balkans, with dire consequences for the region and for European security as a whole. Conflict in Kosovo and Macedonia could easily draw in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey and would represent a colossal failure by the European powers to tackle the new security problems facing the continent now that the Cold War has ended. British national interests as well as humanitarian considerations demand that steps be taken now to defend Bosnian integrity.

Yours faithfully,

MARK MAZOWER

University of Sussex

JOHN ALLCOCK

University of Bradford

JOHN CAMPBELL

RICHARD CLOGG

St Antony's College

University of Oxford

RICHARD CRAMPTON

St Edmund Hall

University of Oxford

DENNIS DELETANT

MARK WHEELER

School of Slavonic and

East European Studies

University of London

University of Sussex

Brighton

7 August