GERMAN CHANCELLOR MEETS BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY MEMBERS

( Editorial: --> 0623 ) SARAJEVO, Dec 23 (Hina) - German Chancellor Helmut Kohl met in Sarajevo on Tuesday with Bosnian presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic and presidency members Kresimir Zubak and Momcilo Krajisnik. Kohl told reporters after the talks that he requested the Bosnian officials to do all they could to ensure the return of refugees to their homes. Help refugees return to their homes and pass housing laws necessary for that, Kohl said. He said the return of Bosnian refugees was a priority for the Bonn government but not because of the costs of their upkeep. We want them to return to their country and ensure themselves a decent existence there. Kohl said Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as Croatia and Yugoslavia regarded themselves as part of Europe and potential members of the European Union, but that it was necessary that they make efforts to achieve that. Izetbegovic welcomed Germany's readiness to keep its troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Regarding the German view on the return of refugees, Izetbegovic reiterated a proposal for stepping up the resolution of that problem. He said that Serbs from Croatia currently staying in Bosnia-Herzegovina should return to their homes first and thus vacate 10,000 to 15,000 flats for returnees. Kohl and Defence Minister Volker Ruehe also met leaders of the religious communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo's Roman Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic, reis-ul-ulema Mustafa Ceric of the Islamic community, Serbian Orthodox Bishop Nikolaj and Jewish community leader Jakob Finci. (hina) vm mm 231846 MET dec 97