Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-06-Speech-3-012"
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"en.20060906.4.3-012"2
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".
Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, when we look back at the history of this region, some catastrophic events can be recorded in Yugoslavia, including Milošević’s activities in Kosovo, which have now resulted in us having to resolve this complex and important issue as far as Europe is concerned.
I would therefore like to call on you, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, to really make every effort, with the assistance of the Commission and the European Parliament, to help Serbia overcome this difficult phase. It cannot be surmounted by giving Kosovo a formal structure in Serbia itself. It will be surmounted by two independent states being able to live together in peace and friendship.
The West, and the European Union in particular, has not tolerated Milošević’s oppression, displacement and killing of some of the Albanian speaking population in particular. This also means, however, that we have fought for values in this region which we now have to uphold as well. I hope that the Council remains resolute in adhering to these values and urges that these values are observed.
What are these values? Do they cover human rights? The rights of minorities? It is, first and foremost, if I may say so, the right to a homeland, which all individuals who have their homeland in Kosovo also have to be able to perceive in every aspect, not just in terms of everyday life and getting by, but also, and more importantly, as far as cultural and religious life is concerned which, in this region, for the Serbian population in particular, is very deep-rooted.
Is an independent Kosovo needed to live like this? Yes or no? I do not believe that there is a perfect solution. Perhaps it would be perfect were we all able to live together in Europe without state borders and authorities. I doubt this is a realistic prospect. This is therefore a genuinely serious consideration which we have to face up to here. What I am saying is that even for Serbia and the Serbian population as a whole, the fact that there was national unity in Kosovo which, as has already been mentioned, fully guarantees human rights and the rights of minorities, would not present a solution or amount to anything.
Independence, something which is looming on the horizon as far as Kosovo is concerned, must therefore be very clearly associated with conditions and European standards. I hope that, in future, the Council will insist on this unequivocally in all deliberations. It would have been better for us if, over past months, the Albanian majority had already demonstrated that it fully respected the rights of minorities, and here, above all, we are talking about the rights of the Serbian population. This has only been the case in part. We must therefore insist on the fact that this is fulfilled in full during the independence process. In this regard, an appeal is made, first and foremost, to the European Union.
For those of us who were in Kosovo not so long ago, it was actually very encouraging that many representatives of the Albanian majority spoke of limited sovereignty which, in the first phase in particular, must also be accepted by the Albanian majority. Which party can limit this sovereignty? Certainly not Serbia, perhaps in the interests of Serbia and its people as well but, first and foremost, the European Union.
Now I come to the point already made by my fellow Member, Mr Lagendijk. The European Union will have to play a major role in the legal system, in the sphere of security, especially that of the police, but naturally also as far as military security is concerned. Responsibility for organising how the European Union plays out this role rests with the Council and naturally, with our colleagues at the Commission, because it would be terrible if Europe was again to speak with two contrasting voices in this region.
No, we just need a single voice in this region which stands up for human rights, for the rights of minorities in a future, independent Kosovo, which means that a limit on sovereignty can be lifted if Kosovo and the majority there also behave accordingly.
Now to my final point. It is certainly difficult for Serbia to first have to cope with Montenegro’s independence and now that of Kosovo. If Serbia receives the support of the European Union, however, a new Serbia can emerge which will prove a valuable partner for all members of the European Union."@en1
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