
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993                   TAG: 9306110175
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: ATHENS, GREECE                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. SENDING TROOPS TO BALKANS

In a step he called "both symbolic and tangible," Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced Thursday that the United States will send a reinforced infantry company of 300 men to Macedonia. They will join a U.N. observer force intended to prevent the Balkan war from spilling into another former Yugoslav republic.

Although Macedonia is relatively peaceful and distant from the Bosnia-Herzegovina war zone, the infantrymen will be the first U.S. ground combat troops sent to any part of the former Yugoslavia. There are 329 non-combat American military personnel already in the shattered federation, more than half of them assigned to a military hospital in Zagreb, Croatia.

Christopher's announcement came as North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers voted to offer air cover to peacekeeping troops anywhere in Bosnia, clearing the way for the U.N. forces to become far more assertive in protecting civilian victims.

The foreign ministers also planned a summit meeting of the leaders of each of the 16 nations later this year. Christopher relayed President Clinton's call for the summit to reorganize the alliance to meet "the challenges of the post-Cold War world."

The Pentagon said the 300 soldiers could be in Macedonia within a week. The 200 combat troops and 100 support personnel most likely would be drawn from forces stationed in Germany or Italy.

The Americans will join about 700 Scandinavian troops under the "operational control" of Danish Brig. Gen. Siermirk Thomsen. Like other units under U.N. command, they will wear the light blue helmets that signify U.N. troops.

Christopher said the force "will serve a strong deterrent purpose" in Macedonia, primarily because any potential aggressor would have to overrun American soldiers, which could bring U.S. retaliation.

"This conflict must not be allowed to spill over," Christopher said of the war among Serbs, Croats and Muslims. "It is essential that everyone in the region understand that aggression against the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia would have grave consequences."

by CNB