Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-267"
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"en.20080220.14.3-267"2
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"Mr President, the House will understand that our group, too, has held a detailed discussion on the situation that has now arisen with regard to Kosovo. The most important conclusion was actually that, whilst we have to accept the reality, there is no cause for celebration, as we are now faced with an extremely complicated situation, including in view of the reactions from Serbia. After what happened under Milošević, however, and also after years of negotiations to find a solution, what has now happened was unavoidable.
We should like to focus in particular on the role of the European Union. The recognition of Kosovo is a matter for the Member States, as Mr Rupel and Commissioner Rehn also emphasised. We do need to act, however. We bear joint responsibility for stability in the region and also in Kosovo, and therefore our group lends its political support to the ESDP mission for which the Union has now given the starting signal. Of course, we also require the Kosovo authorities to implement the Ahtisaari proposals, to make genuine investment in a multiethnic state and to put in place sufficient guarantees for Serbians living in Kosovo.
Finally, on the subject of Serbia itself, everyone is, of course, very uncomfortable with the situation there. We have just had the opportunity to listen to the Serbian Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He gave a hard-as-nails reaction to events, making an attack on Europe, particularly the countries that have now recognised Kosovo. I have another question: what can we do to prevent Serbia being isolated by others and also by itself in this situation? I was disheartened by his reply, as everything he said focused on the issue of Kosovo. However, I think that we must continue to make strenuous efforts to offer Serbia a European perspective, including for the sake of its people, complete with a specific offer concerning, for example, visa facilitation and further visa liberalisation. We must also place particular focus on the younger generation, which recently demonstrated in favour of movement towards the European Union, of a European future. I commend the Serbian Government on its repeated commitment to refrain from the use of violence. I am also assuming that it will refrain from imposing any economic sanctions on Kosovo. What we can do, and what the European Parliament has the responsibility to do, is to continue to invest in a European perspective for the whole region, and also apply this to Serbia."@en1
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