New EC Envoy Is Cautious On Yugoslavia Peace Talks

THE head of the European Community's Yugoslavia peace mission, Lord Owen, embarked yesterday on a hectic round of talks in several European capitals, saying there will be no miracle solution to the crisis in Yugoslavia, and that he was not particularly optimistic about an early reduction in hostilities.

By Thursday - when a joint EC-United Nations permanent conference opens in Geneva - Lord Owen expects to have visited Lisbon, Copenhagen, The Hague, Bonn, and Paris.

He said the civil war is continuing in many parts of Bosnia, despite agreements worked out between the warring factions at last week's London conference.

"This area has a long history of this sort of problem," Owen said. "It is a history of ferocity and distrust and it will take time. We cannot expect miracles."

Owen, who replaced Lord Carrington as head of the EC peace mission last week, said a priority will be putting humanitarian aid in place before winter sets in.

Owen will have talks in The Hague today before traveling to Bonn. He will be in Paris tomorrow, and later the same day will move on to Geneva. Once there, he will begin the talks under joint EC-UN control with Cyrus Vance, the UN envoy.