Brussels, 14th October 1999
EPIINFOReconciliation the key to progress in Kosovo
The entire Serb opposition was invited on Tuesday to come and hold a dialogue with the European Parliament. The invitation was extended by Parliament's President, Nicole Fontaine, when she opened the joint public hearing arranged by the Foreign Affairs and Budgets Committees to discuss the reconstruction of Kosovo. Doris PACK (EPP/ED, D), the Foreign Affairs Committee's rapporteur, called on the Union to do more and talk less. She particularly wanted the Council to engage in dialogue with Parliament on Kosovo. Elmar BROK (EPP/ED, D), chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that the EU's credibility was at stake.
"Integration or disintegration - which is it to be?" This was the question posed by Carl BILDT, the UN Secretary General's special envoy to the Balkans, who warned against the creation of areas of territory in the region inhabited exclusively by people of a single ethnic group. Such a tendency posed a threat to the rest of Europe, he warned. Mr BILDT cautioned that the removal of the Yugoslav President Slobodan MILOSEVIC would not solve all the problems of the region. He highlighted in particular the need to ensure that all displaced people - of whom there are some 500 000 in former Yugoslavia - should have the right to return to their homes. To do otherwise would encourage revanchist sentiment. "Without justice there can be no stability", he concluded.
Bodo HOMBACH, the special co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, stressed that EU membership was a prospect for the whole region. The main aim of the pact was to show the countries of the Balkans that they were part of Europe; it offered a broad-based approach of diplomacy that sought to prevent crises breaking out in the region. There was no alternative to this approach, he believed, arguing that "visionaries are the true leaders".
Bernard KOUCHNER, head of the UN interim administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), whose main responsibility is the protection of minorities, described his role as a major step forward for the right of intervention. A sufficient degree of autonomy could only be established once democracy had been restored in Belgrade. The problems were not humanitarian but political and while the Serbs were certainly not being targeted, Slobodan MILOSEVIC definitely was. Mr KOUCHNER claimed that the resources available to him were inadequate and called on Parliament for financial backing so that the conditions necessary for the local economy to function effectively could be put in place. He pointed out that Kosovo currently had three different governments and said he would endeavour to get a dialogue going between all sides.
Marc FRANCO, head of the Commission's Task Force, stressed that the Task Force had only a transitional role to play pending the establishment of the agency for reconstruction in Kosovo. The Task Force had programmed all the funds (EUR 137m) available for this year and 5 million had already been paid out. The EIB vice-president, Panagiotis-Loukas GENNIMATAS, and the World Bank representative, Mr O'SULLIVAN, defended the pragmatic approach of their respective institutions. They highlighted the scale of the resources needed and assured MEPs that the reconstruction programmes were ready and could be set in motion by the donors' conference due to take place in November. The main priorities were felt to be water and housing. It was also important to restore civil society and the rule of law, and create conditions to enable a market economy to function. However, the NGO representative, Giovanni RUFINI, warned against a mercantile approach and drew attention to the discrepancy between the level of aid being channelled to Kosovo and that granted to the rest of the world.
Replying to MEPs' questions, Mr KOUCHNER said that some sort of unitary council of Kosovo, bringing together Serbs and Kosovars, would be the only way to run a provisional administration. Kosovo also needed to introduce some "pieces of legislation" to fill the current legal vacuum.
In answer to questions on the best way for Parliament to help the reconstruction process, Mr BILDT and Mr KOUCHNER stressed two points. Mr KOUCHNER thought Parliament should have a significant presence in the area, provide critical support and stress major political demands. Mr BILDT believed preventive diplomacy was still the first priority. He pointed out that he and his staff had alerted the international community to the situation in 1997 and spoke of the need to anticipate events and make a decisive political effort to prevent the process of disintegration going further. He reminded MEPs that the Stability Pact was only a framework for action by the Member States; its success would depend entirely on what the states did.
Winding up the hearing, the two co-chairs, Mr BROK and Stanislaw TILLICH (EPP/ED, D), emphasised Parliament's willingness to make constructive criticism. Although it had to be acknowledged that things were working better than in the past, the distribution of roles was far from clear and there was a need for better political coordination to prevent duplication of effort. A decision was therefore taken that a working party should be set up to devise practical proposals.
Press enquiries:
Guy DEREGNAUCOURT (tel. 284 38 06; e-mail: gderegnaucourt@europarl.eu.int)
Tim BODEN (tel. 284 34 59; e-mail: tboden@europarl.eu.int)
Xavier INGLEBERT (tel. 284 41 55; e-mail: stagdcp@europarl.eu.int)
Olivier LONGHI (tel. 284 41 55; e-mail: stagdcp@europarl.eu.int)
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