BOSNIA and what remains of Yugoslavia agreed yesterday to establish full diplomatic relations at a one day Paris summit that marked a breakthrough in the Bosnian peace process.
The announcement by President Jacques Chirac of France came after a day of talks extended by an hour as President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia worked towards a wide ranging agreement.
In a joint draft statement, the two presidents expressed their determination "to replace the time of confrontation with the time of co operation" in order to establish "lasting stability" in the region. They agreed to settle all bilateral differences "in a spirit of goodwill and understanding" and "refrain from all political and legal actions that could make more difficult the development of friendly relations".
Belgrade will "respect the integrity of Bosnia Herzegovina in conformity with the Dayton accords", the statement said.
Under the agreement, Bosnia will "accept the continuity of the state of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia", it added. The signatories agree to resolve problems arising regarding the succession of the former Yugoslavia "in accordance with the rules of international law regarding the succession of states, and in concertation".
The two presidents agreed to improve exchanges between their two countries, providing for travel between the two republics "without visas or other formalities". They also expressed support for a two year consolidation plan adopted last June at a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Lyon.
The agreement, yet to be officially drafted, appeared to go much of the way to resolve some of the deep lying differences between Sarajevo and Belgrade arising out of the 3 1/2 year conflict which the Bosnians consider to have been instigated by Mr Milosevic.
The pledge by Belgrade to recognise Bosnia's integrity undermines the separatist Bosnian Serb aspiration to secede and form a Greater Serbia.
In exchange, there seemed to be agreement on Belgrade's demand that Sarajevo withdraw a charge of genocide lodged against it with the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
The talks were designed to boost Bosnia's fragile peace process by strengthening the Sarajevo Belgrade axis which international mediators have seen as the key to peace. President Chirac made an unscheduled appearance as they continued almost an hour past the announced time for their completion. They appear to have run into difficulty over the question of Bosnia's charges before the International Court of Justice.
The summit was the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders since Mr Izetbegovic was elected president of Bosnia in 1990.
The talks included a working lunch attended by the international envoy to Bosnia, Mr Carl Bildt.
The summit comes at a crucial stage in Bosnia's peace process, a few days after the first meeting of the three man collective presidency and two days before the inaugural session of the new House of Representatives elected last month.