Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-04-Speech-3-062"
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"en.20010704.2.3-062"2
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"Mr President, the situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia remains, as the minister has just said, a matter of intense concern to all of us. In the three months since I last discussed this matter with honourable Members, there has been a steady deterioration in the security situation, a growing polarisation of political opinion and an exponential rise in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons.
When the foreign minister of FYROM reports to the Political and Security Committee of the Council in Brussels on Friday, she will be in a position to speak about substantial progress, because the alternative is frankly too awful to contemplate. It is not too late to avoid catastrophe, but it requires the courage of every citizen of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to pull back from the brink. It requires those with influence in Kosovo over the rebels to pull them back from the brink and it requires the continued stand for moderation exemplified by the government in Tirana to whom I pay unreserved tribute for their contribution.
There cannot be a solely military solution. There has to be a political settlement and it cannot come soon enough.
The violence in front of the Parliament in Skopje just over a week ago, without exaggeration, brought matters to the very brink of the abyss. It is welcome that in the last week there has not been a further serious deterioration in the security situation, and it is welcome, as Minister Michel has just said, that the political dialogue pioneered by President Trajkovski has been resumed. I want to pay tribute to the President’s efforts, I want to pay tribute to the President’s calm decency in the face of this crisis.
As honourable Members will know, the European Union has been intensively involved, from the outset, in efforts to contain and extinguish this conflict. All of us who have some responsibility for this region are acutely conscious of the danger that a descent into civil war in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would pose, not just for the community there, that would be bad enough, but for the region as a whole. Working with NATO, working with the OSCE, working with the United States, we will leave no stone unturned in the search for an end to this conflict and an agreed way forward based on dialogue and political settlement.
One feature of this crisis, has been the very close cooperation between the relevant international organisations and bodies involved, not drawn from any manual or textbook, but because we know how vital it is that we tackle this problem in a united and coherent fashion. We have not yet succeeded in bringing the conflict to an end, but we are absolutely clear that it is only by working together and working with the democratically elected government in Skopje that we will succeed in doing so.
The leading role on behalf of the European has, of course, rightly been taken by my friend and colleague, High Representative Javier Solana. He has been to Skopje on countless occasions and I have accompanied him on a number of those visits as well as making visits on my own. He has worked, and is working, tirelessly for a peaceful solution, ably supported on the ground in Skopje by the outgoing presidency ambassador, Mark Dickinson, and by the head of the commission delegation, José Pinto Texeira. I want to pay a particularly warm tribute to him for his courage and steadfastness and wise advice.
A week ago, as the minister has said, the General Affairs Council appointed Mr Léotard as the European Union’s resident envoy, in Skopje, under the authority of Mr Solana. I met Mr Léotard last week and promised him the full support of the European Commission in his work. We stand ready to do all we can, anywhere and at any time. Mr Léotard is initially locating himself in the Commission’s delegation office in Skopje.
As honourable Members know, in April the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia signed a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. That agreement includes important commitments by the government in Skopje about respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities. It is essential that those commitments should be honoured, and we all want to see early results in the inter-ethnic dialogue. That is the only route to a lasting political solution.
The European Commission is providing very substantial support, EUR 42 million under CARDS in 2001. Much of it will specifically help with the implementation of projects which will assist the Albanian as well as the Macedonian Slav community. For example, the EUR 5 million we have delivered for the South-East Europe Albanian language university at Tetovo, funds for the census and funds for local government reform and the implementation of small-scale local infrastructure projects, which make a visible difference to people’s lives and communities.
We have made it very clear, and I want to repeat this point today, that we will be ready to come forward with substantial assistance for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as soon as a political agreement is reached between the parties. I hope that all involved will regard that as a serious incentive to work intensively and constructively with Mr Léotard and Mr Pardew, the United States representative, in the coming days. Let it also be an incentive to extend the cease-fire and to halt the military activities on both sides which are costing so much politically, financially and in human lives. I just want to underline this point. This Parliament would not take kindly to proposals from the Commission, or from anyone, to spend more money supporting reconstruction and development, supporting the budget in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, if at the same time money was being spent, which frankly no one really has, on more bombs and more rockets, and if there was not a clear prospect of a political settlement and continuing cease-fire."@en1
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