Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-30-Speech-2-207"
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"en.20040330.6.2-207"2
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".
Mr President, I am extremely glad to have the opportunity to speak to the House today about Kosovo. As the presidency noted, I went with Mr Javier Solana to Kosovo last week, because of our concern about the recent upsurge in violence. During those terrible days and nights, a very large number of homes were destroyed, together with schools, medical facilities and a large number of churches. The latest reports suggest that 22 people were killed and more than 850 injured, including police and KFOR members. There is little doubt that although there may have been an initial trigger for the violence, it quickly became organised. I also have no doubt that elements within the main Albanian political parties were involved.
We should remember that Europe rightly took a stand against the disgraceful ethnic cleansing by Milosevic in 1999. Since then, the international community has spent EUR 2 billion – not including defence costs – to try to rebuild Kosovo. We did not do that in order to see Kosovar Serbs being ethnically cleansed in their turn.
Let me share with the House my reflections on my visit to Kosovo. I have to say that the High Representative and I were extremely disappointed. We saw at first hand the anger and upset of Serbs in a suburb of Pristina called Kosovo Polje. We were looking for evidence that Kosovar Albanian leaders understood those feelings. There was precious little sign of it. On the contrary, there was an attempt to blame everyone but themselves for what had happened.
There was one exception to this. The Prime Minister, Mr Rexhepi, rose to the occasion. He showed considerable courage in visiting trouble spots to try to defuse tensions. He also immediately understood the responsibility of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government to put right the terrible wrongs that were done to Kosovar Serbs. Before we arrived, he had decided to set up a reconstruction fund with an initial budget of EUR 5 million. He understood that it was the duty of his government to put things right, not the responsibility of the international community. I did not go to Pristina to promise that European taxpayers’ money would be used instead. That would be completely unacceptable. Mr Rexhepi promised that rapid action would be taken to repair damaged property so that people could get back to their homes as quickly as possible. Mr Solana and I promised to go back through the summer so that we could see for ourselves that progress on reconstruction is actually occurring.
What are the priorities now? NATO has reacted swiftly to increase troop numbers in order to provide better security. This has had an immediate effect on calming tensions in Kosovo, although we have to remain extremely vigilant about the situation. Next, UNMIK police are trying as quickly as possible to identify those responsible for these attacks so that they can be taken out of circulation and punished. It is incumbent on the leaders of the Albanian political parties to purge their ranks of such people. Next, there needs to be an investigation of the role played by the Kosovo police service in the disturbances. There were reports that some members of the police service did their duty well, but there have also been reports of police service members either taking no action to prevent these attacks or, worse still, participating in them. UNMIK is determined to get to the bottom of what actually happened. Next, we have to be quite clear that we stand fully behind UNMIK. There were clear signs of organised attacks on UNMIK property and staff. That is completely unacceptable. The European Union strongly supports the UN as an institution. We cannot tolerate attacks on the UN, whether in Kosovo or anywhere else.
We also need to work very closely with our United States partners. Mr Solana and I had a very constructive meeting with Marcie Ries, the American Representative in Pristina. We all agreed that we needed to make it absolutely clear to the Kosovars that we are at one in our reaction to these events. Finally, it is absolutely essential that the political leaderships in Belgrade and Pristina refrain from provocative statements which can only serve to exacerbate tensions. Final status discussions are for another day. Last week’s declaration by the Serbian Parliament insisting on permanent sovereignty for Serbia and a system of cantons inside Kosovo was extremely unhelpful, to say the least. So were statements by Kosovar Albanian leaders in the immediate aftermath of the violence that they would not accept anything short of independence.
It is always tempting after horrible events like these to conclude that we should rip up our strategy and come up with a new plan. I must be absolutely clear with the House on this: I do not believe that we can give up on our insistence on a multi-ethnic Kosovo in which all ethnic groups can live freely and without fear. Nor do I believe that we should abandon the idea of standards before status. On the other hand, we should not send a signal that final status discussions will be delayed indefinitely. That would risk a grave worsening of tension.
Nothing that happened earlier this month can change the geography of Kosovo. We all have a shared interest in making sure that Kosovo does not become a black hole in the middle of south-east Europe, where organised crime flourishes and ethnic division is entrenched. We have to go on working patiently for the long-term future. Whatever Kosovo’s final status, its future lies in Europe.
However, the standards we insist that Kosovo should implement and live up to do not include the speed at which you can burn down your neighbours' home, or how quickly you can trash the school or the hospital that your neighbours go to. We have to make it absolutely clear that violence is not a shortcut to anything, and that if people follow leaders who espouse violence they are following those leaders into a future of poverty and criminality – not a future with the rest of Europe. I hope that point will be understood and that the community will turn its back on violence and move towards stability, prosperity, multi-ethnicity, pluralism and democracy."@en1
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