Letter: An opt-out from EU elections

Sir: In your interview with Jacques Delors (19 May), he says that he greatly regrets Europe's failure to deal with the Yugoslav conflict. He also says it is not surprising that Europe was unable to give an adequate response to the Bosnian crisis because there is no strong set of central institutions and defence policy in place.

Since the maintenance of peace between Europeans is the sole reason for the existence of the European Union, it is not merely surprising but dismaying that it has failed abysmally at the first test, some 40 years after it was established. If the EU cannot successfully intervene in former Yugoslavia, what useful purpose does it serve?

Yours faithfully,

D. S. HOSKINS

Edinburgh

20 May