The presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Yugoslavia have agreed to strengthen co-operation at a summit in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo - their first meeting since the wars of the 1990s.

Presidents

Yugoslavia - Vojislav Kostunica Croatia - Stipe Mesic Bosnia - Beriz Belkic, Zivko Radisic, Jozo Krizanovic

The leaders also stressed their determination to continue on the path of democracy and the rule of law to bring their countries "into a united Europe".

Correspondents say the meeting has huge symbolic and historic value and is being seen in the Balkans as an important moment.

But there was no apology from either Yugoslavia or Croatia to Bosnia for their countries' part in the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed 200,000 lives and forced more than two million people to flee their homes.

Refugee problem

The national flags of the three nations were raised outside the heavily guarded villa where the leaders met.

The time has come to focus efforts on the road ahead, which leads to integration in the European mainstream

High Representative Paddy Ashdown

The 43-month siege of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces was seen daily on television screens worldwide.

Now the leaders of Yugoslavia and Croatia - who at one stage wanted to divide Bosnia between themselves - have put their signatures alongside that of the Bosnian president.

"The time has come to focus efforts on the road ahead, which leads to integration in the European mainstream," said the international community's High Representative in Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown.

The last time the heads of state met was in Paris in 1995 to sign a deal hammered out in Dayton, Ohio, a few weeks earlier, which ended the Bosnian war.

Agenda

Refugee returns Visa regimes Free trade Property rights European integration Fight against terrorism

Even seven years on, many refugees of the war have still not been able to return to their former homes.

There are people unable to collect pensions since the war forced them to move from the country they had spent their lives working in.

And despite some relaxation of visa regimes this summer, borders have yet to be fully opened.

No unilateral apology

In the run-up to the meeting, there were calls in Bosnia for Yugoslavia and Croatia to apologise.

But the Yugoslav president's foreign affairs adviser, Pedrag Simic, told the BBC there would be no unilateral apology.

"What happened between 1992 and 1995 in Bosnia had many reasons and many victims, and many villains," he told the BBC.

He added that the main achievement of the meeting would be a re-orientation towards the future rather than the past, and the lifting of a "political barrier" that frustrates attempts to restore economic links, and help refugees return home.

New generation

The Dayton summit brought together Yugoslavia's then President Slobodan Milosevic, Bosnia's Alija Izetbegovic, and Croatia's Franjo Tudjman.

Many refugees are still unable to return home

The Sarajevo summit was attended by a new generation of leaders - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, his Croatian counterpart, Stipe Mesic, and the members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency - Beriz Belkic, Zivko Radisic and Jozo Krizanovic.

Franjo Tudjman died in December 1999, and Alija Izetbegovic stepped down last year as the head of Bosnia's presidency.

Relations between the three Balkan neighbours remained tense until moderates started taking over in 2000.

Bosnia established diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia after elections and mass protests forced Slobodan Milosevic to step down.

The Bosnian war was triggered by Bosnia's declaration of independence from the Yugoslav Federation 10 years ago, which was opposed by Bosnian Serbs.

Croatia was also involved in a war between 1991 and 1995 against rebel ethnic Serbs backed by the Yugoslav authorities in Belgrade.