An agreement signed this week between Bosnian Muslims and Croats to end their part of Bosnia's tragic civil war and create a loose federation is a welcome breakthrough. Unfortunately, it still isn't the end of the war.
While the Muslim-Croat pact is bigger and more solid than many of the previous cease-fires, truces and negotiated deals of the war, all sides are keeping things low key. As the history of this gruesome conflict has shown, hopes for peace have been repeatedly shattered in the past.The pact does put pressure on Bosnian Serbs to become the third and final partner in the arrangement. But there is no guarantee that such an accomodation will occur soon or even at all. However, the possibilities look more hopeful now than at any time in the two-year struggle.
Under the deal signed in Washington, the Muslims and Croats who live in what is left of former Bosnia have agreed to stop fighting and co-exist as partners in a federation. The pact strengthens the Muslims in their largely losing battle against the Serbs.
The Bosnian federation would likely join hands with neighboring Croatia in an expanded relationship, although that is still in the future.
The Muslim-Croat agreement actually is the smaller and easier part of the Bosnian struggle. Seventy percent of what was once Bosnia is now held by the Serbs, leaving the Muslim-led government and the Croats with the other 30 percent.
That lopsided result of the fighting cannot be allowed to stand under any future deal with the Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs want to keep at least 65 percent of Bosnia while the Muslims say they need at least 60 percent. The figure being tossed around in Washington is a 50-50 split.
Whether that kind of division eventually would be acceptable is unknown.
There are other problems. The Bosnian Serbs want their share of the country to have close ties with neighboring Serbia and the central government of what once was Yugoslavia. Bosnian Muslims have objected. Then there is the problem of Croatia, where Croatian Serbs have seized one-third of that country. None of those issues can be solved quickly or easily.
Every effort must be made to end Bosnia's agony, even if the solution seems to reward the Serbs who have been the chief aggressors. The war so far has cost 200,000 lives, made millions homeless and caused torture, rape and murder on a scale not seen in Europe since World War II.
A glimmer of hope can be seen in Bosnia. The West must use every persuasion - including the threat of arming the Muslims with heavy weapons - to get the Serbs to accept a peaceful settlement. The war and all its awful consequences have dragged on much too long.