World Notes Yugoslavia

In recent months, the future status of the ethnically mixed republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina seemed more likely to be settled by bullets than by ballots. But in two days of polling last weekend, 64% of the registered voters in the central Yugoslav republic cast votes on whether to follow Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia into independence. Strong support among the republic's Muslims and Croats made for a virtually unanimous approval. Orthodox Serbs had been instructed to boycott the referendum. Even so, Western diplomats estimated that as many as 15% of Serbs also voted yes.

The referendum fulfills the conditions for diplomatic recognition set forth in December by the European Community. But conflicts at barricades that were erected by the Serbs after the vote proved there is still much work to be done. Late last month Bosnia's ethnic leaders agreed that while the republic's external borders should remain intact, political power should be devolved to give more autonomy to the various nationalities within. That leaves the country with the task of finding a workable middle way between civic unity and ethnic division.