BRUSSELS : Recognition Is the Issue

The 12-nation European Community has promised to consider recognizing separate Yugoslav republics after Wednesday, a move that could plunge the war-torn Balkan federation into a new phase of upheaval.

Serbia and Montenegro champion Yugoslav unity so that Serbs scattered among several republics can continue to live in one country. Belgrade, backed by the federal army, has threatened retaliation against foreign powers that move to bury the corpse of Yugoslavia.

But Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina want recognition to protect themselves from what they see as a blatant attempt to deed parts of their territory to an expanded Serbian state.