. . . WHILE EUROPE FIDDLES

In Washington, Bosnia's foreign minister declared the U.N. peacekeeping mission "at an end" and said the Muslim government would demand the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers unless contributing nations agreed to confront Serb rebels in combat. That's roughly what France has proposed to do, to the chagrin of Britain and other partners who fear the plan is brash and unrealistic. Even so, one European Union official told TIME's Jay Branegan at a meeting of European foreign ministers today that French and British positions "are becoming closer." And yet: "The British want to see a very detailed plan for how it would work, and say the only way to get the necessary troops in is by air, namely, U.S. helicopters." Said an exasperated Karl Bildt, the European Union negotiator in Bosnia: "Either the rhetoric has to come down, or the reality has to come up."