Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-05-Speech-4-171"
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"en.20001005.12.4-171"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, excuse me for having arrived a little late, for reasons that you are well aware of, in order to make a brief declaration on the two matters on the agenda: the situation in Belgrade and in the former Republic of Yugoslavia in general, and the situation in the Middle East. Unfortunately, this evening I am not going to be able to tell you anything positive on either of these two subjects.
This is what I can tell you at the moment. I am sure that if the sitting goes on for some time that we will have more information. But I do say to you – and I think that we have to continue to be firm about this – that President Milosevic robbed his people of their freedom. This is what we must say and we must do everything we can to prevent it from happening again.
You have asked me to give you information on the latest events in the Middle East, and unfortunately, in this case I am also unable to give you optimistic news. I can give you news of optimism of will, but not really of optimism of intelligence. The situation is not easy. Everyone needs to make an effort so that the tension is reduced in that area, which is so important to us, and so that negotiations take place once again, or so that the parties involved return to the negotiating table. For those of us who have had the very powerful experience of taking part in a great number of meetings over the summer, which resulted in the two sides coming much closer together than they ever have, it is all the more sad still to be seeing people and families torn apart and people suffering and dying in the streets of those countries that we are so fond of.
I would like to tell you that yesterday, the French Presidency – led by the President of the Republic – the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mrs Albright, and I spent the whole day trying to reach an agreement that both parties could sign. All our efforts were in vain. No agreement has been signed. There is an agreement that has not even been initiated, and negotiations are currently continuing in Egypt.
As you know, Prime Minister Barak did not attend the meeting, and although there is this agreement, which has not been formalised, the situation in the territories is a little better. I must tell you and admit to you that no agreement has yet been signed on any of the issues. There is a draft agreement on the withdrawal of some of the military forces. There are the beginnings of an agreement on the tripartite committee that could analyse the future of security in the area, but there has been no agreement at all on a committee to investigate the causes of and responsibilities for the events.
I would once again like to make an appeal from this institution to everyone involved and, in particular, to the political leaders involved to make every effort to reduce the tension and, as quickly as possible, to return to the negotiating table, because their positions are not so different that they cannot come to an agreement. But, once again, we are seeing the depth of the crisis that still exists in that part of the world, which is so important to us. Let us hope that in the next few hours I will be able to give you better news. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot do so.
The situation in Serbia: I will start with the latest news. As you know, there are currently around one million people on the streets of Belgrade and the news that we are getting is that tension is mounting.
From the point of view of the European Union, I think that the decision taken by the Constitutional Court is, once again, a violation of all the basic principles of a country that should have free elections. The resolution passed by the Constitutional Court meant, once again, taking away the votes of citizens who have voted freely and obtained a majority.
I would like to say to you, on behalf of the European Union and the Council, that we consider Professor Kostunica to be the leader of the majority of the Serbian people and that it is him who we are going to support and continue to support. We believe that he has won the elections, that his people were capable of winning the elections and that he is the one who deserves all of our support.
I will not hide from you the fact that the situation is not easy, and that we are going to experience a certain degree of tension in the next few days, but everyone needs to keep calm so that the situation does not develop into a serious conflict. I would also like to tell you that the European Union has put mechanisms in place so that, once the popular will of the Serbian people is respected, that is, once we have a government that is supported by the people who voted in the ballot boxes for Mr Kostunica, we can offer two things: firstly, an immediate lifting of sanctions and secondly, a package of economic aid that can help the Serbian people to rebuild their economy.
There is an important matter that I would also like to mention to you, which I have had the opportunity to discuss with Mr Kofi Annan, with whom I met for three hours this morning. As you know, there is still the problem of which state is to succeed the former Republic of Yugoslavia. This is a problem that has not been resolved and, until it is resolved, the international financial institutions – the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – will not be able to help democratic Serbia. Therefore, we also need to work within the United Nations with the countries of the former Yugoslavia in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible which, when Serbia becomes free, could unblock economic aid through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
I would like to say – as you know – that the Presidency has organised a summit in Zagreb, which we hope will be a summit in which a democratic former Republic of Yugoslavia takes part, and that we want to include all the countries in building a Balkans region that is stable, prosperous, with a European outlook and with its eyes on the future."@en1
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