Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-15-Speech-4-150"

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". Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, my good friend Olivier Dupuis spoke on quite the wrong subject. We are speaking today about southern Serbia and Kosovo. We are not discussing Serbia and current policy in Serbia proper. I agree with much of what you said, Olivier. Believe me, those Members who were in Belgrade have taken a clear line on the conditions. For us, there can be no money unless the conditions are fulfilled. No one has ever disputed that, apart from Commission President Prodi, whom I hereby urge to desist from such comments. But let me come back to today’s debate. It is a matter of how things stand now in Kosovo. I agree with Mr Lagendijk on this point. Unless we know quite soon what is to happen next in Kosovo, the difficulties will simply accumulate down there. The problem is that KFOR troops have become the targets of Serbian and Albanian attacks, although KFOR is actually there to protect both of these ethnic groups. The problem, in a nutshell, is that Mr Hækkerup will have to call elections very soon. To do that, he must know what powers the elected bodies will have. But we need these bodies so that the Serbian side has Kosovar negotiating partners. Now we have the subject of southern Serbia. I believe that KFOR, like other bodies, has not done all it should have done there. Where have the weapons come from for these new extremists? They have, of course, been transferred from the old KLA to the new KLA. In my view, KFOR, with its 50 000-strong force in Kosovo, ought to be able to establish order in the Presevo Valley. I appeal to KFOR to do so, lest we lose our credibility in that corner of the Balkans. I also believe, of course, in the truth of what the Mayor of Presevo said in Belgrade, namely that the population of Kosovo would like to remain in Serbia if only the Albanians in the region could be treated at long last on a par with the Serbs. They want to be part of everything that Yugoslav citizenship implies. I believe the government’s new plan is good. It is pursuing the right path, and we should support it. To tell the truth, I am a little saddened that Mr Kostuníca has said it will all happen without supervision by the EU. Why should we not play a part? We are good mediators. We can help the Serbs and Albanians to live together in peace, and I hope we shall be allowed to help them."@en1

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