Autonomy for the Croatians

In the editorial "US Role in the Balkans," Jan. 24, the author finds it curious - in light of Croatia's own border disputes - that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman would agree to the partition of Bosnia, a move the author misrepresents by equating it with Serbia's aspirations in that same region.

On the contrary, Mr. Tudjman's position is quite understandable. If Serbian leaders are allowed the privilege to set up their own autonomous units or secede altogether, then the same right should be given to Croats, as well as the Muslims in Serbia's Sandzak region, the ethnic Albanians in its Kosovo region, and so forth. The intractability of such a situation is precisely the reason why borders should stay fixed - and this applies to the Serb-inhabited regions of Croatia. Dubravka Romano, Cambridge, Mass.

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