Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-22-Speech-3-349"
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"en.20081022.22.3-349"2
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"Mr President, dear Mr McMillan-Scott, Commissioner Rehn, ladies and gentlemen, many thanks for this rich and interesting debate. I should like once again to thank Mrs Pack, who has shown herself to be very active, who has a very sound knowledge of the region, who is also very present on the ground, who has listened the most to what the local leaders have to say – we therefore need her cooperation – and who is involved in bringing about a rapprochement with the European Union, but without any concessions being made in terms of values.
Like her, the Council is concerned – as I said before – about the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina as it has been described by several speakers. This country – as you emphasised – is at a crossroads and caught up in controversy with regard to relations between the central State and the bodies and with regard to the path that will lead to the European Union, as I said. Its leaders must assume their full responsibilities regarding the country’s development and must ensure in this way that the stabilisation of the entire region is consolidated.
For all that, I shall respond to the question put to me, and the answer is that the security situation remains calm. Neither the independence of Kosovo nor the arrest of Mr Karadzic has caused unrest in the country. The deadline for the municipal elections of 5 October having lapsed, the European Union must henceforth apply pressure so that Bosnia and Herzegovina focuses on its European agenda.
Mr Swoboda was entirely correct in his response concerning the superficial comparisons made between terrorist fears and the multiethnic character of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter is precisely what makes this country rich and what could be its contribution to the European Union. Looking to the future, we shall be careful to prevent any suggestion that the European Union has abandoned Bosnia and Herzegovina. I should like to reassure Mr Czarnecki on this point: the European Union must give its verdict on the future of the Office of the High Representative, in the knowledge that we desire neither the premature closure without conditions nor the artificial extension of this Office.
On the subject of the future of the EUFOR-Althea military operation, we cannot extend it indefinitely. The Union will have to re-engineer this operation, and the foreign affairs ministers will have to debate it at the Council of 10 November.
To conclude, and to respond to several speakers, I would say that the Bosnia and Herzegovina situation needs to be placed within a regional framework. Our objective is to enable the entire region to progress towards a rapprochement with the European Union. A number of positive developments must be highlighted in this regard.
The fact that Croatia has entered into an active phase of negotiations is a good thing. The fact that, in Serbia, we have for the first time a government that is committed to forming closer links with the European Union and that, with the arrest of Mr Karadzic, has pledged its commitment, is an entirely positive element and one that must be commended.
The Bosnian leaders must take care not to stay on the sidelines of this development, by thinking only of settling scores inherited from past wars. Like Mr McMillan-Scott, I too heard the speech made by François Mitterrand in this House. I, too, remember his words, but it is important in fact to go beyond these conflicts, in the name of the same principles as those that were emphasised by President Mitterrand at the time.
To conclude, the aim of the reforms requested by the European Union is not only to enable this country to form closer links with the European Union but, above all, to ensure that its entire population benefits from the progress that we are trying to encourage. I agree entirely with Mr Maaten. It is clear that we can be proud of being Europeans, proud of what the Commission and the other institutions are doing to help Bosnia and Herzegovina on the only route with any substance, that is to say the route to rapprochement, in line with the values, with the European Union!"@en1
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