PRICE OF RECOGNITION MIGHT BE TOO HIGH, BOSNIA'S IZETBEGOVIC SAYS

SARAJEVO, May 20 (Hina) - President of Bosnia-Herzegovina's presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, warned that the situation in Bosnia had been deteriorating considerably in the last month and that the peace process was in deadlock at the moment. Addressing deputies at today's session of the Bosnian Republic's Parliament, Izetbegovic said that a positive turnaround might happen provided that the states that had emerged from the former Yugoslavia, recognize each other. Izetbegovic believed that this might be expected and said negotiations on this issue were being intensively conducted. However, he expressed certain reservations in this regard, and added that a price of the mutual recognition could be too high and even unacceptable to the Bosnian side. Submitting a report on the presidency's work in the last three years Izetbegovic described as most important results the defence of the country and the consolidation of its international position. "The Bosnian Army liberated about 2,000 square kilometres of territory in last year alone," he emphasized. Izetbegovic said the entire presidency and he fully supported the project of setting up the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and they especially welcomed Germany's involvement in those efforts. The Bosnian Parliament session today sent protest letters to the UN Security Council and the European Parliament because of the latest developments in the Serb-occupied Banja Luka area, northwestern Bosnia. In the letters the Bosnian Parliament requested that the UN SC and the European Parliament do the utmost to protect Catholics and Roman Catholic churches and facilities in the area in question where they have been exposed to systematic terror and abuses carried out by armed bands. (hina) mms 201959 MET may 95