Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-07-21-Speech-3-108"
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"en.19990721.6.3-108"2
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"Mr President, Kosovo is a small economy. The European Union could subsidise Kosovo for ever and hardly notice it. But surely this is not an acceptable solution. As soon as possible, we must aim to have Kosovo stand on its own economic feet. That inevitably means external trade. However, there is a problem in redeveloping Kosovo's trade. Its biggest trading partner in the past and almost certainly in the future must be its neighbour immediately to the north, Serbia proper. Not only that but its trade routes to much of the rest of Europe past through Serbia. And yet Serbia is a pariah, embargoed, its infrastructure largely destroyed, its economy shattered. Here we have a conundrum: how do we get Kosovo to stand on its own feet unless we can rehabilitate Serbia also?
The current international community's set purpose is that Milosevic and his regime must be got rid of and then everything is possible. Until he goes, not a penny – well, we heard earlier, hardly a penny. But what if Milosevic does not go? Let us hope that he does, but if he does not, have we begun to estimate the cost of restoring Serbia's infrastructure and productive economy? Remember, Serbia was a sizeable, developed industrial economy, a vital trading partner and transport corridor for Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece, as well as Kosovo and all the former Yugoslav Republics.
So my question to the President-in-Office of the Council and to the Commission is this: how far have you thought through the political steps, the economic and financial commitments that are needed to bring about a free and democratic Serbia and reintegrate a free and democratic Serbia into the European economy and body politic?"@en1
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"Purvis (PPE)"1
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