Milosevic was Serbian not Yugoslav president at time of Dayton accords

Although Yugoslavia's new democratic leadership has dropped this condition, relations between the two sides remain uneasy - all the more so after Mr Kostunica raised doubts at the weekend about aspects of the Dayton peace accords which brought the Bosnian war to an end in 1995.

He noted that the treaty had been signed for the Serbian side by Mr Milosevic who, as President of the Serbia at the time, had no right to conclude international agreements which were within the competence of the federal Yugoslav authorities.

He also pointed out that the treaty had not been ratified by the Yugoslav parliament.

Extradition request

Since then Mr Kostunica has responded to criticism from Bosnia by saying that he's not questioning the foundations of the Dayton agreement.

Ratko Mladic: Bosnia wants him to face justice

Meanwhile, a number of other differences remain. Bosnia's Muslim and Croat leaders want Mr Kostunica to apologize for wartime atrocities attributed to the Serbian side.

Mr Kostunica has side-stepped the issue, and said that war crimes were committed on all three sides - whether they were Croats, Muslims or Serbs.

The Bosnians would also like Belgrade to extradite war crimes suspects, first and foremost, the Bosnian Serbs' wartime military commander, General Ratko Mladic, to The Hague Tribunal.

But once again, Mr Kostunica is reluctant to go along with that.

Ties with Bosnian Serb republic

For his part, the Yugoslav leader - a long-standing Serb nationalist - is pressing for the establishment of closer links between his country and the Bosnian Serb republic, the entity that the Dayton accords created within Bosnia along with the Muslim-Croat federation.

These special relations, which could involve dual citizenship and co-operation across a whole range of areas, from trade to education, might come at the expense of the closer reintegration of Bosnia's two entities.

By contrast, most Bosnian Muslims (or Bosnjaks) would like to see greater centralisation within Bosnia but the Bosnian Serbs, who are backed by Mr Kostunica, are opposed to that.

Although the two sides don't see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, the visit is seen as an important move in laying the foundations for a more businesslike relationship between Bosnia and Yugoslavia.

During the Sarajevo talks the two sides signed an agreement that will lead to the establishment of embassies in Sarajevo and Belgrade.

Talks are due next month in Belgrade which are expected to lead to agreeements on free trade, investment protection and the avoidance of double taxation.

All this could provide the framework for a longer-term improvement in relations.