BRUSSELS, May 29 (Reuter) - European Union foreign ministers gave full backing on Monday to efforts currently underway to obtain Serbian recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a way of ending the current crisis in former Yugoslavia.

"The European Union supports diplomatic efforts in course to achieve the mutual recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro," the 15-member EU said in a statement. The statement, issued in Brussels a few hours before a meeting in the Hague of the Contact Group of major powers trying to broker a peace plan, condemned what it termed "odious hostage-taking" by Bosnian Serbs of U.N. peacekeepers. "The EU reiterates its attachment to the conclusion of a settlement for the whole of the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia assuring thesovereignty and territorial integrity of all states within internationally-recognised frontiers and respect of human rights," the statement said. The Contact Group, consisting of France, Britain, Russia, the United States, and Germany, hopes to seal a deal with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic under which he recognises Bosnia in return for a lifting of U.N. sanctions. International mediators hope the deal will split Milosevic from Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. The statem

ent expressed the EU's extreme worry over the deteriorating situation in Bosnia, expressed full support for the U.N. Protection Force, and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all U.N. personnel currently detained by the Bosnian Serbs. Without spelling out any action, the statement warned the Bosnian Serbs "of the consequences to which they were exposing themselves".