GERMAN DELEGATION VISITS TRAVNIK

( Editorial: --> 8420 ) TRAVNIK, June 2 (Hina) - "I visited Travnik because its signs of tolerance are encouraging", German Defence Minister Volker Ruehe told reporters after his Tuesday visit to the central Bosnian town. Ruehe is heading a German delegation on a day-long visit to Bosnia- Herzegovina. The German government want refugees currently taken care of in Germany to return to Bosnia, Ruehe told reporters, emphasising there would be no hasty, forced return due to poor economic conditions in Bosnia. "We will not return refugees into the unknown and unsafe", the Defence Minister said. Asked about his optimism concerning the surrender of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic to the Hague tribunal, Ruehe said it was not a matter of optimism but reality. He also expressed his government's concern at the situation in the south Yugoslav province of Kosovo. "(Yugoslav President) Milosevic must understand that Kosovo isn't just a Yugoslav, but a significant European issue. It is necessary to stop the war there, so that political negotiations may begin", Ruehe said. He added the international community would pursue with agreed pressure on the ruling policy in Yugoslavia in order to decrease tension in Kosovo. The German delegation included the international mediator for the Croat-Muslim Federation of BH, Christian Schwartz-Schilling, the government's coordinator for the return of refugees and reconstruction in BH, Dietmar Schlee, the German Ambassador to BH, members of the German parliament, army generals, and numerous reporters. (hina) ha 022012 MET jun 98