NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The key to peace in the Balkans rests in the hands of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who "must formally accept the entry of international troops into Kosovo." That is the opinion of Archbishop Franc Perko of Belgrade, the president of the Yugoslavian bishops' conference.

      In an interview published in the Italian daily Il Giornale, Archbishop Perko said that troops should be brought in as soon as possible, preferably under UN leadership. He also said that the troops should be drawn not only from NATO nations but also from other countries, perhaps including countries where the Orthodox faith is dominant.

      For Milosevic, accepting such intervention would be a "historic" move, the archbishop said. However, if the announcement could be engineered to avoid "humiliation," he believed that the Serbian leader might be able to claim a sort of victory-- particularly if the peacekeeping troops make a point of disarming Kosovo rebels.

      Archbishop Perko-- who is suffering from cancer, and is expected to relinquish his post as soon as the war end-- said that he is pessimistic about the prospects for peace in the Balkans without international intervention. At the same time, he continues to believe that the NATO bombing campaign has been an error. "I have condemned the air strikes, and I want to see them ended," the archbishop said. He argued that the bombing has stiffened the resolve of the Serbian political leadership, and caused the population to rally to the support of Milosevic.

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