Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-235"
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"en.20050413.19.3-235"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, EU foreign policy ought to focus on South East Europe, and the EU ought to take consistent measures to finish what it started in the mid-1990s. To date, however, such measures have been thin on the ground. The aim behind this report was to allow us to exert a certain amount of pressure on the Council and the Commission, and today we have learnt that this course of action has proved successful, at least at this stage of the game. I was glad to hear the Commissioner say a few moments ago that the Commission now, at long last, plans to present a communication on Kosovo, and Mr Schmit also said that the Council would try to ensure that the increased interest in this region would be backed up by action.
At the same time, however, we must ask ourselves what action the countries themselves are taking. The two previous speakers have already referred to the need for Albania to ensure at long last that the forthcoming elections are conducted properly and that the results are not manipulated in any way. The Albanian Government must also take the business of governance seriously once and for all, by combating corruption and implementing legislation. We are all aware that Macedonia must press on with the Aarhus process in order to enable its Albanians, who make up 25% of the population as a whole, to feel as though they are on an equal footing with other citizens. Until this happens, it will be impossible for Macedonia to act as a stabilising force in the region.
The Commission and the Council have for some considerable time needed to bring pressure to bear on local politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to amend the Dayton Agreement in such a way that a functioning community can be established. The country will never be able to join the European Union in its current state. There is still too little cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, and not enough refugees have yet returned to
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Turning to Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, the confederation between Serbia and Montenegro is still far from robust, and a decision should be taken in the near future as to whether it should remain in existence or be dissolved. Belgrade and Pristina must work together under the auspices of the UN and the EU to find a solution to the Kosovo issue as quickly as possible, and there is no reason why such a solution should not be found, given that all the countries concerned wish to join the European Union. I hope that Croatia will be able to persuade the monitoring mission that it is cooperating fully.
All the above-mentioned countries are facing enormous problems with regard to their judicial systems and the fight against corruption, and they also lack administrative capacity. We must take steps to help them in this respect, and indeed we should help all these countries in a more committed and coherent fashion. We should provide them with access to pre-accession instruments so that they develop functioning national economies and functioning democracies. If this happens, everyone will benefit, especially the young people in the countries in question."@en1
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