Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-06-Speech-3-268"
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".
Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@en4
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"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@cs1
"Hr. formand, det er mig en stor glæde at være til stede her i Parlamentet ved indledningen til det britiske EU-formandskab. De næste seks måneder bliver en kritisk tid for mange stater på Vestbalkan. Som europaminister glæder jeg mig til at forfølge den nedarvede dagsorden og arbejde for at hjælpe landene i denne region på deres vej mod Europa.
Serbien og Montenegro har helt klart taget nogle kæmpeskridt fremad i de sidste seks måneder. I april afsluttede Kommissionen en positiv gennemførlighedsundersøgelse, og den henstiller, at EU indleder forhandlinger med Serbien og Montenegro om stabiliserings- og associeringsaftalen. Ministerrådet har accepteret denne henstilling og opfordret Kommissionen til at udarbejde et forhandlingsmandat. Det er et vigtigt skridt for Serbiens og Montenegros fremskridt mod integration i EU.
Vi mener, at Serbien og Montenegro bør indlede forhandlingerne om en stabiliserings- og associeringsaftale inden den 5. oktober, som markerer femårsdagen for de demokratiske forandringer i Beograd, eller senest inden 10-årsdagen for Dayton-Paris-aftalen til november. Men samarbejdet med Den Internationale Straffedomstol skal forbedres, og i den sammenhæng er Mladic og Karadzic vigtige brikker, især i lyset af årsdagen for Srebrenica-massakren, som vi mindes i næste uge.
Jeg vil også gerne understrege vigtigheden af en dialog mellem Beograd og Pristina, som er i hele Kosovos befolknings interesse. Kun gennem deltagelse i de demokratiske regeringsinstitutioner kan Kosovo-serberne sikre, at der tages hensyn til deres problemer. Vi bifalder Beograds beslutning om at tilskynde Kosovo-serberne til at deltage i decentraliseringsarbejdsgrupperne og forventer af Beograd, at det også sker.
Bosnien-Hercegovina har også for nylig gjort store fremskridt i retning af at indlede forhandlinger om en stabiliserings- og associeringsaftale med EU. Det er også inden for Bosnien-Hercegovinas rækkevidde, men vil ikke ske, før landet opfylder de relevante betingelser, bl.a. vedtagelse af en omstrukturering af politiet, reform af de offentlige radio- og tv-stationer og fuldstændigt samarbejde med Den Internationale Krigsforbryderdomstol for det tidligere Jugoslavien.
Vi ønsker, at Bosnien-Hercegovina indleder forhandlinger om en stabiliserings- og associeringsaftale under vores formandskab inden tiårsdagen for Dayton-Paris-fredsaftalen, men det forudsætter, at de bosniske myndigheder gør yderligere fremskridt for at gennemføre prioriteringerne i gennemførlighedsundersøgelsen.
Jeg har i dag forsøgt at opsummere den nuværende situation med hensyn til vores prioriteringer for landene på Vestbalkan for de kommende seks måneder. Vi står bestemt over for store udfordringer, men tillad mig at slutte lidt mere optimistisk.
I de seneste 10 år har meget forandret sig til det bedre. Der er afholdt frie og retfærdige valg i hele regionen, regeringsskift gennem stemmeurnerne er blevet normen, der er ingen trusler om store konflikter, og landene i regionen samarbejder om at forbedre deres borgeres liv. EU og andre internationale partnere står sammen om at bistå regionen med at bevare stabilitet og skabe velfærd. De mørke dage i begyndelsen af 1990'erne ser i det store og hele ud til at være et fjernt minde. Men i takt med at vi nærmer os en større grad af integration mellem landene på Vestbalkan og EU, er det op til de pågældende lande at gøre deres sag uomstødelig.
Vi forstår, at EU's forpligtelser over for regionerne skal respekteres, og det lover vi at gøre. Men i denne tid, hvor EU kigger indad, og der hersker usikkerhed om form og retning, er det så meget desto vigtigere, at landene i regionen opfylder deres egne forpligtelser, ikke i EU's interesse - selv om det er vigtigt nok - men for deres befolkningers skyld, for de har alt for længe lidt under ledere, som påstod, at de repræsenterede befolkningens interesser, men som i realiteten kun gav næring til fjendtlighed og strid.
Næste uge markerer, som det også fremgår af titlen på denne forhandling, 10-årsdagen for Srebrenica-massakren i juli 1995. 7-8.000 muslimske mænd og kvinder blev dræbt med koldt blod i det værste folkedrab i Europa siden 1945. Vi erkender, at det internationale samfund ikke indså, hvad der skete, før det var for sent, og det svigtede sin pligt til at beskytte uskyldige civile, ubevæbnede mænd, kvinder og børn. Uanset hvilke undladelsessynder det internationale samfund end måtte have begået, og som vi dybt beklager i denne triste erindringsstund, må vi ikke glemme de overgreb, der blev begået af de bosniske serbiske styrker. Det endelige ansvar ligger hos dem, der myrdede, voldtog og torterede med koldt blod.
Som vi alle ved, er nogle af dem allerede blevet retsforfulgt og fundet skyldige i deres del af disse grusomheder, andre er blevet frifundet. Men de øverste ansvarlige - Ratko Mladic og Radovan Karadzic - er stadig på fri fod, flygtet fra retfærdigheden. 10 år efter denne barbariske begivenhed er det på tide, at myndighederne i denne region, dvs. i Serbien og Montenegro, Bosnien-Hercegovina og i Kroatien, griber om ondets rod og opfylder deres internationale forpligtelse til at samarbejde fuldt og helt med Den Internationale Krigsforbryderdomstol for det tidligere Jugoslavien. Men det er også høje tid, at de opfylder deres forpligtelser over for deres
folk til at fjerne de tilbageværende hindringer for, at de kan indtage deres retmæssige plads i den europæiske familie af nationer. Jeg opfordrer alle, der kan gøre deres indflydelse gældende, til at samarbejde om at fjerne denne gift fra den politiske verden og overgive alle, der er flygtet fra anklager for krigsforbrydelser, således at de kan blive stillet for domstolen i Haag.
Her hvor vi overtager EU-formandskabet, er det et privilegium at blive mødt med så store forventninger og muligheder. Kroatien er på nippet til at indlede tiltrædelsesforhandlinger om at blive fuldgyldigt medlem af EU, blot 10 år efter at krigen sluttede i 1995. Som Det Europæiske Råd har gjort klart flere gange, er det Zagrebs ansvar at fjerne de tilbageværende hindringer for disse forhandlinger, nemlig den fortsatte mangel på betingelsesløst samarbejde med Den Internationale Straffedomstol i Haag. Som formandsland for EU er vi rede til at indlede forhandlinger, så snart Rådet finder, at denne forpligtelse er overholdt. Den letteste måde at få fjernet denne hindring er naturligvis at arrestere og udlevere den flygtede Ante Gotovina.
Det ville være et tegn på vores engagement over for alle landene på Vestbalkan og over for Thessaloniki-forpligtelserne om, at de alle er mulige kandidater, hvis vi kan indlede tiltrædelsesforhandlingerne under vores formandskab. Men bolden ligger helt klart på Zagrebs banehalvdel.
Den Tidligere Jugoslaviske Republik Makedonien har også gjort store fremskridt, siden den etniske konflikt udbrød i 2001. Ganske vist er Ohrid-rammeaftalen endnu ikke fuldt gennemført, men senere i år vil Kommissionen offentliggøre sin holdning til Republikkens ansøgning om at blive medlem af EU, som blev indgivet sidste år. I lighed med enhver anden ansøger er fuldstændig overholdelse af Københavnskriterierne en forudsætning. Vi glæder os til at bistå myndighederne i Skopje med at gøre yderligere fremskridt i henseende til stabiliserings- og associeringsaftalen, især med at bekæmpe korruption og organiseret kriminalitet og gennemføre økonomiske og retslige reformer.
Tidsplanen for indledningen af forhandlingerne vil afhænge af myndighedernes tilsagn om at løse disse problemer i både ord og gerning. I Albanien ser det ud til, at det seneste valg blev gennemført ganske fredeligt. Mens optællingen fortsætter, opfordrer vi alle politiske kræfter til at respektere valgprocessen og afholde sig fra at komme med bedømmelser af resultatet, før det foreligger. Vi håber dog, at der kan dannes en ny regering så snart som muligt for at sikre, at Albanien fortsat kan gøre fremskridt med stabiliserings- og associeringsaftalen. I den sammenhæng skal den nye regering løse de endemiske problemer med korruption og organiseret kriminalitet og gennemføre en reform af retsvæsenet, hvis landet skal kunne blive medlem af EU, hvilket vi helhjertet støtter. En af vores største udfordringer er naturligvis Kosovo. Den tid nærmer sig hastigt, hvor vi skal drøfte og træffe beslutning om det vanskelige og følsomme emne om Kosovos endelige status. Uanset resultatet skal det gælde for alle grupper i Kosovo og styrke stabiliteten i regionen. Derfor har kontaktgruppen og EU udelukket enhver mulighed for at vende tilbage til status quo fra før 1999 eller en opdeling af Kosovo. Ingen af delene ville tjene hverken borgernes eller regionens interesser.
Uafhængighed er bestemt en mulighed. Men jeg minder dem, som ønsker uafhængighed, om, at de skal overbevise alle befolkningsgrupper og resten af verden om, at uafhængighed kan fungere, og at alle rettigheder overholdes fuldt ud, både for Kosovos mindretal og for dem, der vender tilbage til Kosovo efter voldshandlingerne i 1999. Hvis befolkningen i Kosovo ønsker at komme med i EU, skal de lære at leve sammen på lige fod og respektere hinandens forskelle.
Den nuværende omfattende revision af normer er derfor en kritisk udfordring. Hvor positiv denne revision bliver, afhænger af de fremskridt, der gøres på stedet. Resultatet er ikke givet på forhånd. Jeg erkender, at der er sket reelle fremskridt med gennemførelsen af normer, men der skal stadig gøres et stort arbejde her. Manglende vilje til at arbejde videre med centrale områder båder ikke godt for resultatet af den omfattende revision. Fremtiden ligger derfor i hænderne på Kosovos myndigheder i Pristina. I mellemtiden har EU en vigtig opgave med at støtte yderligere fremskridt, især inden for den økonomisk udvikling."@da2
".
Herr Präsident! Ich freue mich, zu Beginn des britischen Ratsvorsitzes hier im Europäischen Parlament sein zu können. Die kommenden sechs Monate werden für viele der Staaten auf dem westlichen Balkan von entscheidender Bedeutung sein. Als Minister für Europa freue ich mich darauf, die Arbeit an der von meinem Vorgänger übernommenen Agenda fortzusetzen und die Länder der Region auf ihrem Weg nach Europa zu unterstützen.
Serbien und Montenegro haben in den letzten sechs Monaten eindeutig einen großen Schritt nach vorn getan. Im April schloss die Europäische Kommission eine positive Durchführbarkeitsstudie ab, in deren Ergebnis sie die Aufnahme von Verhandlungen mit Serbien und Montenegro über ein Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommen empfiehlt. Der Ministerrat hat diese Empfehlung angenommen und die Kommission gebeten, ein Verhandlungsmandat vorzubereiten. Das ist für Serbien und Montenegro ein wichtiger Schritt auf dem Weg zur EU-Integration.
Wir möchten, dass Serbien und Montenegro bis zum 5. Oktober, dem fünften Jahrestag der demokratischen Veränderungen in Belgrad, oder bis spätestens zum zehnten Jahrestag des Abkommens von Dayton/Paris im November die Verhandlungen über ein Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommen aufnehmen. Aber die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Internationalen Strafgerichtshof muss sich weiter verbessern, und in diesem Zusammenhang sind Mladic und Karadzic der Schlüssel, zumal vor dem Hintergrund des Jahrestages des Massakers von Srebrenica, dessen wir in der nächsten Woche gedenken werden.
Ich möchte ferner die Bedeutung des Dialogs zwischen Belgrad und Pristina im Interesse aller Menschen im Kosovo unterstreichen. Die kosovarischen Serben können nur durch ihre Beteiligung an den demokratischen Regierungsgremien gewährleisten, dass ihre Anliegen Berücksichtigung finden. Wir begrüßen, dass Belgrad beschlossen hat, die kosovarischen Serben aufzufordern, in Dezentralisierungsarbeitsgruppen mitzuwirken, und wir hoffen, dass Belgrad diesen Beschluss umsetzt.
Bosnien und Herzegowina sind der Aufnahme von Verhandlungen über ein Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommen mit der Europäischen Union in letzter Zeit ebenfalls einen großen Schritt näher gekommen. Sie haben das Ziel fast erreicht. Doch solange sie die damit verbundenen Auflagen nicht erfüllen, zu denen die Zustimmung zur Umstrukturierung der Polizei und zur Reformierung der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten sowie der Nachweis einer umfassenden Zusammenarbeit mit dem Internationalen Strafgerichtshof für das ehemalige Jugoslawien zählen, bleibt dieses Ziel außer Reichweite.
Uns liegt daran, dass Bosnien und Herzegowina im Verlaufe unseres Ratsvorsitzes bis zum zehnten Jahrestag des Friedensabkommens von Dayton/Paris die Verhandlungen über ein Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommen aufnehmen, aber dazu sind weitere Fortschritte seitens der bosnischen Behörden in Bezug auf die Erfüllung der Auflagen der in der Durchführbarkeitsstudie genannten Prioritäten erforderlich.
Ich habe heute versucht, die derzeitige Situation bezüglich unserer Prioritäten für die Länder des westlichen Balkan für die nächsten sechs Monate zusammenzufassen. Vor uns liegen zweifellos anspruchsvolle Aufgaben, aber ich möchte meinen Beitrag mit einer optimistischen Einschätzung abschließen.
In den letzten zehn Jahren hat sich so vieles verbessert: In der Region haben freie und faire Wahlen stattgefunden; Regierungswechsel werden inzwischen an der Wahlurne entschieden; die Gefahr großräumiger Konflikte ist gebannt; die Länder der Region arbeiten zusammen, um das Leben ihrer Bürger zu verbessern. Die Europäische Union und andere internationale Partner ziehen bei ihren Bemühungen um die Aufrechterhaltung der Stabilität und die Schaffung von Wohlstand an einem Strang. Die finstere Zeit der frühen 90er Jahre gehört im Wesentlichen der Vergangenheit an. Doch auf dem weiteren Weg der Integration zwischen den Ländern des westlichen Balkan und der Europäischen Union kommt es jetzt darauf an, dass diese Länder alles tun, um uns von ihrer Entschlossenheit, die Auflagen zu erfüllen, zu überzeugen.
Uns ist klar, dass die Europäische Union ihren Verpflichtungen gegenüber der Region nachkommen muss, und das versprechen wir. Aber in einer Zeit der Reflexion innerhalb der Europäischen Union, da Unklarheit bezüglich ihrer künftigen Struktur und Richtung herrscht, ist es umso wichtiger, dass die Länder der Region ihre eigenen Verpflichtungen erfüllen, und zwar nicht im Interesse der Europäischen Union – obwohl das wichtig ist -, sondern im Interesse ihrer eigenen Bürger, die viel zu lange unter denen gelitten haben, die unter dem Vorwand, die Interessen der Bürger zu vertreten, Feindseligkeit und Konflikte schürten.
Wie der Titel dieser Aussprache besagt, begehen wir in der kommenden Woche den zehnten Jahrestag des Massakers von Srebrenica im Juli 1995. Zwischen sieben- und achttausend muslimische Männer und Frauen wurden im schlimmsten Völkermord in Europa seit 1945 kaltblütig ermordet. Wir sind uns im Klaren, dass die internationale Gemeinschaft erst zu spät erkannt hat, was passierte, und dass sie ihrer Pflicht, unschuldige Zivilisten, unbewaffnete Männer, Frauen und Kinder zu schützen, nicht nachgekommen ist. Worin die Unterlassungssünden der internationalen Gemeinschaft, die wir zu dieser Zeit der Trauer und des Gedenkens zutiefst bedauern, auch immer bestehen mögen, wir dürfen nicht die Verbrechen vergessen, die die angreifenden bosnisch-serbischen Streitkräfte verübten. Die Verantwortung liegt letztlich bei jenen, die kaltblütig gemordet, vergewaltigt und gefoltert haben.
Wie wir alle wissen, wurden einige der Beteiligten in Gerichtsverfahren der Mittäterschaft bei diesen Gewalttaten für schuldig befunden und andere wurden freigesprochen. Doch diejenigen, die die Hauptverantwortung tragen – Ratko Mladic und Radovan Karadzic –, sind noch immer flüchtig und entziehen sich ihrer gerichtlichen Verurteilung. Zehn Jahre nach diesem furchtbaren Ereignis ist es unbedingt an der Zeit, dass die Behörden in der Region – in Serbien und Montenegro, in Bosnien und Herzegowina und in Kroatien – den Stier bei den Hörnern packen und ihren internationalen Verpflichtungen zur umfassenden Zusammenarbeit mit dem Internationalen Strafgerichtshof für das ehemalige Jugoslawien nachkommen. Es ist aber auch an der Zeit, dass sie ihren Verpflichtungen gegenüber ihren
Bürgern nachkommen und die noch bestehenden Hemmnisse abbauen, die sie daran hindern, ihren rechtmäßigen Platz in der europäischen Völkerfamilie einzunehmen. Ich fordere all jene, die etwas bewirken können, auf zusammenzuarbeiten, um dieses Gift aus dem Staatsgefüge zu entfernen und alle noch Flüchtigen, denen Kriegsverbrechen zur Last gelegt werden, nach Den Haag zu überstellen, damit sie vor Gericht gestellt werden können.
Die Übernahme der Ratspräsidentschaft zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt ist auch insofern ein Privileg, als dies auch eine Zeit großer Hoffnung und Chancen ist. Kroatien steht heute, nur zehn Jahre nach dem Ende des Krieges im Jahr 1995, kurz vor der Aufnahme von Verhandlungen über den Beitritt zur Europäischen Union. Wie der Europäische Rat bei zahlreichen Gelegenheiten erklärt hat, ist es die Aufgabe von Zagreb, das einzige Hindernis, das der Aufnahme dieser Verhandlungen noch im Wege steht, zu beseitigen, nämlich die Tatsache, dass Kroatien nach wie vor nicht umfassend mit dem Internationalen Strafgerichtshof in Den Haag zusammenarbeitet. Wir sind in unserer Eigenschaft als Ratsvorsitz bereit, die Verhandlungen aufzunehmen, sobald sich der Rat davon überzeugt hat, dass diese Bedingung erfüllt ist. Die einfachste Möglichkeit zur Überwindung dieses Hindernisses wäre natürlich die Verhaftung und Überstellung des flüchtigen Ante Gotovina.
Wenn wir im Verlauf unseres Ratsvorsitzes die Verhandlungen aufnehmen könnten, wäre dies ein Zeichen unseres Engagements gegenüber allen Ländern des westlichen Balkan und gegenüber unserer Verpflichtung von Thessaloniki, in der die europäische Perspektive dieser Länder hervorgehoben wird. Doch jetzt ist eindeutig Zagreb am Zug.
Die ehemalige jugoslawische Republik Mazedonien hat seit Ausbruch des ethnischen Konflikts im Jahr 2001 ebenfalls große Fortschritte erzielt. Obwohl noch einiges zu tun bleibt, bis die Auflagen des Rahmenabkommens von Ohrid erfüllt sind, wird die Kommission noch in diesem Jahr ihre Stellungnahme zum im letzten Jahr eingereichten Antrag der Republik auf Beitritt zur Europäischen Union veröffentlichen. Wie bei jedem anderen Anwärter bildet die umfassende Einhaltung der Kopenhagener Kriterien eine Voraussetzung. Wir sind gern bereit, die Behörden in Skopje bei der Umsetzung des Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommens zu unterstützen, und zwar insbesondere im Hinblick auf die gezielte Bekämpfung von Korruption und der organisierten Kriminalität sowie der Durchführung der ökonomischen und justiziellen Reform.
Der Zeitpunkt der Verhandlungsaufnahme hängt davon ab, ob die Behörden ihren Worten hinsichtlich der Inangriffnahme dieser Probleme Taten folgen lassen. Allem Anschein nach sind in Albanien die jüngsten Wahlen allgemein friedlich verlaufen. Solange die Auszählung andauert, fordern wir alle politischen Kräfte auf, den ordnungsgemäßen Wahlprozess zu respektieren und sich voreiliger Urteile bezüglich des Ergebnisses zu enthalten. Dennoch hoffen wir, dass baldmöglichst eine neue Regierung gebildet werden kann, um zu gewährleisten, dass Albanien weitere Fortschritte auf dem Weg zu einem Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsabkommen machen kann. Dabei wird eine der Aufgaben der neuen Regierung darin bestehen, etwas gegen die weit verbreitete Korruption und die organisierte Kriminalität zu unternehmen und die Justiz zu reformieren, wenn sie ihre europäischen Bestrebungen erfüllen will, die wir umfassend unterstützen. Eines unserer größten Probleme ist und bleibt natürlich der Kosovo. Wir werden uns schon sehr bald mit der schwierigen und sensiblen Frage des endgültigen Status für den Kosovo befassen müssen. Ganz gleich, wie das Ergebnis aussieht, es muss für alle Gemeinschaften im Kosovo annehmbar sein und die regionale Stabilität unterstützen. Deshalb haben die Kontaktgruppe und die Europäische Union eine Rückkehr zum Status quo vor 1999 oder jegliche interne Teilung des Kosovo ausgeschlossen. Davon hätten weder die Menschen im Kosovo noch die Menschen in der Region etwas.
Was die Unabhängigkeit betrifft, so ist das auf jeden Fall eine Möglichkeit. Aber ich möchte die Befürworter der Unabhängigkeit daran erinnern, dass sie alle Bevölkerungsgruppen und die internationale Gemeinschaft davon überzeugen müssen, dass die Unabhängigkeit machbar ist und dass die Rechte der Minderheiten im Kosovo ebenso respektiert werden wie die derjenigen, die seit den Unruhen des Jahres 1999 noch nicht zurückgekehrt sind. Wenn die Menschen im Kosovo Teil der europäischen Völkerfamilie werden wollen, dann müssen sie lernen, gleichberechtigt miteinander zu leben und ihre Unterschiede zu respektieren.
Die zurzeit stattfindende umfassende Überprüfung der Umsetzung der Standards ist daher von entscheidender Bedeutung. Wie positiv diese Überprüfung ausfällt, hängt von den Fortschritten vor Ort ab. Das Ergebnis steht nicht von vornherein fest. Ich stelle fest, dass bei der Umsetzung der Standards spürbare Fortschritte erzielt wurden, aber es bleibt noch viel zu tun. Mangelndes Engagement für weitere Maßnahmen in Schlüsselbereichen wäre einem positiven Ergebnis der umfassenden Überprüfung nicht zuträglich. Die Zukunft liegt daher in den Händen der kosovarischen Behörden in Pristina. Gleichzeitig muss die Europäische Union einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Unterstützung weiterer Fortschritte leisten, und zwar vor allem im Bereich der Wirtschaftsentwicklung."@de9
"Κύριε Πρόεδρε, χαίρομαι που βρίσκομαι εδώ στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο κατά την έναρξη της βρετανικής Προεδρίας της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης. Οι επόμενοι έξι μήνες θα αποτελέσουν σημαντική περίοδο για πολλές δυτικές βαλκανικές χώρες. Ως υπουργός ευρωπαϊκών υποθέσεων, ανυπομονώ να συνεχίσω την ατζέντα που κληρονόμησα και να εργαστώ για να βοηθήσω τα κράτη της περιοχής να προχωρήσουν στον δρόμο προς την Ευρώπη.
Η Σερβία-Μαυροβούνιο έχει σαφέστατα κάνει μεγάλα βήματα το τελευταίο εξάμηνο. Τον Απρίλιο, η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή ολοκλήρωσε μια θετική μελέτη σκοπιμότητας η οποία προτείνει να ξεκινήσει η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση τις διαπραγματεύσεις με τη Σερβία-Μαυροβούνιο για τη Συμφωνία Σταθεροποίησης και Σύνδεσης. Το Συμβούλιο Υπουργών δέχτηκε την πρόταση και προσκάλεσε την Επιτροπή να προετοιμάσει μια εντολή διαπραγμάτευσης. Αυτό είναι ένα σημαντικό βήμα για την πρόοδο της Σερβίας-Μαυροβουνίου σχετικά με την προσχώρηση στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση.
Έως τις 5 Οκτωβρίου, πέμπτη επέτειο των δημοκρατικών αλλαγών στο Βελιγράδι, ή έως τη δέκατη επέτειο της Συμφωνίας Ντέιτον-Παρισίων το αργότερο τον Νοέμβριο, θα θέλαμε να έχουν ξεκινήσει οι διαπραγματεύσεις Σερβίας-Μαυροβουνίου για μια συμφωνία σταθεροποίησης και σύνδεσης. Η συνεργασία, όμως, με το Διεθνές Ποινικό Δικαστήριο πρέπει να συνεχίζει να βελτιώνεται και αναφορικά με αυτό, η παράδοση των Mladic και Karadzic έχει ζωτική σημασία ενόψει της επετείου της σφαγής της Σρεμπρένιτσα, την οποία θα μνημονεύσουμε την επόμενη εβδομάδα.
Θα ήθελα επίσης να τονίσω τη σημασία του διαλόγου μεταξύ του Βελιγραδίου και της Πρίστινας για το συμφέρον των ανθρώπων του Κοσσυφοπεδίου. Μόνο μέσω συμμετοχής στους δημοκρατικούς θεσμούς της κυβέρνησης μπορούν οι Σέρβοι του Κοσσυφοπεδίου να διασφαλίσουν ότι λαμβάνονται υπόψη οι ανησυχίες τους. Χαιρετίσαμε την απόφαση του Βελιγραδίου να ενθαρρύνει του Σέρβους του Κοσσυφοπεδίου να μετάσχουν στις ομάδες εργασίας για την αποκέντρωση και προσδοκούμε ότι το Βελιγράδι θα το πετύχει αυτό.
Η Βοσνία-Ερζεγοβίνη έχει σημειώσει πρόσφατα σημαντική πρόοδο όσον αφορά την έναρξη διαπραγματεύσεων για μια συμφωνία σταθεροποίησης και σύνδεσης με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Αυτή η ευτυχής κατάληξη είναι εφικτή για τη Βοσνία-Ερζεγοβίνη, αλλά θα παραμείνει απρόσιτη έως ότου ικανοποιήσει τις σχετικές προϋποθέσεις που περιλαμβάνουν συμφωνία για αναδιάρθρωση της αστυνομίας και της κρατικής υπηρεσίας ραδιοφωνίας, καθώς και επίδειξη πλήρους συνεργασίας με το Διεθνές Ποινικό Δικαστήριο για την πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβία.
Θα θέλαμε να ανοίξει η Βοσνία-Ερζεγοβίνη τις διαπραγματεύσεις υπό την προεδρία μας έως τη δέκατη επέτειο της Ειρηνευτικής Συμφωνίας Ντέιτον-Παρισίων, αλλά αυτό απαιτεί περαιτέρω πρόοδο από τις αρχές της Βοσνίας, ώστε να ικανοποιηθούν οι προτεραιότητες της μελέτης σκοπιμότητας.
Προσπάθησα σήμερα να συνοψίσω την παρούσα κατάσταση σχετικά με τις προτεραιότητες μας για τις δυτικές βαλκανικές χώρες τους επόμενους έξι μήνες. Υπάρχουν σίγουρα μεγάλες προκλήσεις στο μέλλον, αλλά θα ήθελα να κλείσω με έναν τόνο αισιοδοξίας.
Τα τελευταία δέκα χρόνια, πολλά έχουν αλλάξει προς το καλύτερο: διεξάγονται ελεύθερες και δίκαιες εκλογές σε όλη την περιοχή, οι αλλαγές κυβερνήσεων μέσω εκλογών αποτελούν ρουτίνα, οι εκτεταμένες διαμάχες δεν αποτελούν πλέον απειλή, τα κράτη της εν λόγω περιοχής συνεργάζονται για να βελτιώσουν τη ζωή των πολιτών τους. Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση και άλλοι διεθνείς εταίροι ενώνονται για να συνεργαστούν με την περιοχή, ώστε να διατηρήσουν τη σταθερότητα και να πετύχουν ευημερία. Οι μαύρες ημέρες των αρχών της δεκαετίας του 1990 μοιάζουν με μακρινή ανάμνηση. Αλλά, καθώς κατευθυνόμαστε προς τη μεγαλύτερη ενοποίηση των δυτικών βαλκανικών χωρών με την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, μένει στα ίδια τα κράτη να διασφαλίσουν την ορθή εξέλιξη των πραγμάτων.
Κατανοούμε ότι η δέσμευση της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης απέναντι σε αυτές τις περιοχές πρέπει να τηρηθεί και αναλαμβάνουμε να το κάνουμε αυτό. Όμως, σε αυτή την εποχή ενδοσκόπησης στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση και αβεβαιότητας για το μελλοντικό της σχήμα και την κατεύθυνσή της, είναι ολοένα και πιο σημαντικό να εκπληρώσουν οι χώρες της περιοχής τις δεσμεύσεις τους, όχι προς όφελος της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης –παρόλο που και αυτό είναι σημαντικό– αλλά για χάρη του λαού τους που έχει υποφέρει στα χέρια εκείνων που ισχυρίζονται ότι προστατεύουν τα συμφέροντά τους, αλλά στην πραγματικότητα υποδαυλίζουν μόνο εχθρότητα και διαμάχη.
Η επόμενη εβδομάδα –όπως αναγνωρίζεται από τον τίτλο της συζήτησης– σηματοδοτεί τη δέκατη επέτειο της σφαγής της Σρεμπρένιτσα τον Ιούλιο του 1995. Επτά έως οχτώ χιλιάδες μουσουλμάνοι άντρες και γυναίκες σκοτώθηκαν εν ψυχρώ στη χειρότερη γενοκτονία της Ευρώπης από το 1945. Αναγνωρίζουμε ότι η διεθνής κοινότητα δεν κατάφερε να συνειδητοποιήσει τι συνέβη παρά μόνο όταν ήταν πολύ αργά και απέτυχε στο καθήκον της να προστατεύσει τους αθώους πολίτες και τους άμαχους άντρες, γυναίκες και παιδιά. Ωστόσο, όποιες και αν είναι οι αμαρτίες της διεθνούς κοινότητας, για τις οποίες λυπούμαστε βαθύτατα αυτή τη στιγμή της θλίψης και της μνήμης, ας μην ξεχάσουμε τα εγκλήματα που διέπραξαν οι επιτιθέμενες σερβοβοσνιακές δυνάμεις. Η τελική ευθύνη βαρύνει εκείνους που δολοφόνησαν, βίασαν και βασάνισαν εν ψυχρώ.
Όπως όλοι γνωρίζουμε, κάποιοι δικάστηκαν πραγματικά και κρίθηκαν ένοχοι για αυτές τις βαρβαρότητες, ενώ άλλοι αθωώθηκαν. Αλλά εκείνοι που θεωρήθηκαν περισσότερο υπεύθυνοι –Ratko Mladic και Radovan Karadzic– διαφεύγουν ακόμη από τη δικαιοσύνη. Δέκα χρόνια μετά από αυτό το τρομερό γεγονός, ήρθε σίγουρα ο καιρός για τις αρχές αυτών των κρατών –στη Σερβία και Μαυροβούνιο, στη Βοσνία-Ερζεγοβίνη και στην Κροατία– να αρπάξουν τον ταύρο από τα κέρατα και να έρθουν αντιμέτωπες με τις διεθνείς υποχρεώσεις τους ώστε να συνεργαστούν πλήρως με το Διεθνές Ποινικό Δικαστήριο για την πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβία. Ήρθε, ωστόσο, ο καιρός να τηρήσουν τις υποχρεώσεις τους απέναντι στους δικούς τους ανθρώπους και να άρουν τα εμπόδια για να λάβουν τη θέση που τους αρμόζει στην ευρωπαϊκή οικογένεια των κρατών. Καλώ όλους εκείνους που είναι σε θέση να κάνουν τη διαφορά να συνεργαστούν για να απομακρύνουν το δηλητήριο από το πολιτικό σώμα και να παραδώσουν όλους τους εναπομείναντες φυγάδες που έχουν καταδικαστεί για εγκλήματα πολέμου, προκειμένου να βρεθούν αντιμέτωποι με τη δικαιοσύνη στη Χάγη.
Η ανάληψη της Προεδρίας της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης αυτή τη χρονική στιγμή αποτελεί επίσης προνόμιο καθώς τρέφουμε μεγάλες ελπίδες και έχουμε πράγματι πολλές ευκαιρίες. Η Κροατία βρίσκεται στα πρόθυρα της έναρξης των ενταξιακών διαπραγματεύσεων, προκειμένου να γίνει πλήρες μέλος της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης μόλις δέκα χρόνια μετά το τέλος του πολέμου του 1995. Όπως πολλές φορές έχει καταστήσει σαφές το Ευρωπαϊκό Συμβούλιο, είναι ευθύνη του Ζάγκρεμπ να άρει το μοναδικό εναπομείναν εμπόδιο σε αυτές τις διαπραγματεύσεις: τη συνεχιζόμενη ανυπαρξία πλήρους συνεργασίας με το Διεθνές Ποινικό Δικαστήριο της Χάγης. Ως προεδρεύουσα χώρα της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, είμαστε έτοιμοι να ξεκινήσουμε τις διαπραγματεύσεις μόλις το Συμβούλιο αποφασίσει ότι πληροί αυτή την υποχρέωση. Προφανώς, ο ευκολότερος τρόπος για να ξεπεράσουμε αυτό το εμπόδιο θα είναι να συλληφθεί και να παραδοθεί στη δικαιοσύνη ο φυγόδικος Ante Gotovina.
Θα αποτελέσει ένδειξη της αφοσίωσής μας απέναντι σε όλες τις δυτικές βαλκανικές χώρες και στις δεσμεύσεις της Θεσσαλονίκης ότι όλα τα κράτη είναι μελλοντικοί υποψήφιοι, εάν καταφέρουμε
να ξεκινήσουν ενταξιακές διαπραγματεύσεις κατά την Προεδρία μας. Η πρωτοβουλία, όμως, ανήκει πλέον στο Ζάγκρεμπ.
Η Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας έχει επίσης κάνει σημαντική πρόοδο από το ξέσπασμα της εθνικής διαμάχης το 2001. Παρόλο που υπάρχει ακόμη δουλειά να γίνει, προκειμένου να εφαρμοστούν πλήρως οι όροι της συμφωνίας πλαίσιο της Οχρίδας, η Επιτροπή θα εκδώσει αργότερα το τρέχον έτος τη γνώμη της για την αίτηση που υπέβαλε πέρυσι, ώστε να προσχωρήσει η Δημοκρατία στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Όπως και με οποιονδήποτε άλλο υποψήφιο, προϋπόθεση είναι η πλήρης συμμόρφωση με τα κριτήρια της Κοπεγχάγης. Ανυπομονούμε να βοηθήσουμε τα Σκόπια να σημειώσουν μεγαλύτερη πρόοδο σχετικά με τους όρους της Συμφωνίας Σταθεροποίησης και Σύνδεσης, ιδίως στην πάταξη της διαφθοράς και του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος καθώς και την εφαρμογή οικονομικών και δικαστικών μεταρρυθμίσεων.
Ο χρόνος έναρξης των ενταξιακών διαπραγματεύσεων θα εξαρτηθεί από τη δέσμευση των αρχών να αντιμετωπίσουν αυτά τα θέματα τόσο στην πράξη όσο και στη θεωρία. Στην Αλβανία, φαίνεται ότι οι πρόσφατες εκλογές διεξήχθησαν μέσα σε ένα γενικά ειρηνικό κλίμα. Ενώ συνεχίζεται η καταμέτρηση των ψήφων, καλούμε όλες τις πολιτικές δυνάμεις να σεβαστούν την εν εξελίξει εκλογική διαδικασία και να αντισταθούν σε πρόωρες εκτιμήσεις σχετικά με το αποτέλεσμα. Ωστόσο, ελπίζουμε ότι θα μπορέσει να σχηματιστεί νέα κυβέρνηση το συντομότερο δυνατόν για να διασφαλιστεί ότι η Αλβανία θα μπορέσει να συνεχίσει την πορεία της προς μια συμφωνία σταθεροποίησης και σύνδεσης. Υπό αυτό το πρίσμα, η νέα κυβέρνηση θα χρειαστεί να αντιμετωπίσει τα προβλήματα της διαφθοράς και του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος καθώς και να εφαρμόσει τις δικαστικές μεταρρυθμίσεις εάν πρόκειται να εκπληρώσει τις ευρωπαϊκές φιλοδοξίες της, τις οποίες στηρίζουμε πλήρως. Μια από τις μεγαλύτερες προκλήσεις που αντιμετωπίζουμε, ωστόσο, είναι το Κοσσυφοπέδιο. Πλησιάζει με ταχείς ρυθμούς η ώρα που θα πρέπει να αντιμετωπίσουμε το δύσκολο και ευαίσθητο θέμα του οριστικού καθεστώτος στο Κοσσυφοπέδιο. Οποιοδήποτε αποτέλεσμα πρέπει να ισχύει για όλες τις κοινότητες του Κοσσυφοπεδίου και να ενισχύει την περιφερειακή σταθερότητα. Για τον λόγο αυτόν, η ομάδα επαφής και η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση έχουν αποκλείσει οποιαδήποτε επιστροφή στο καθεστώς που ίσχυε πριν από το 1999 ή σε οποιαδήποτε εσωτερική διχοτόμηση του Κοσσυφοπεδίου. Κάτι τέτοιο δεν θα ικανοποιούσε τα συμφέροντα του λαού του Κοσσυφοπεδίου αλλά ούτε και της περιοχής.
Η ανεξαρτησία αποτελεί σίγουρα μια επιλογή. Αλλά θα θυμίσω σε όσους υποστηρίζουν την ανεξαρτησία ότι πρέπει να πείσουν όλες τις κοινότητες και τον κόσμο γενικά ότι η ανεξαρτησία μπορεί να λειτουργήσει και ότι τα δικαιώματα της μειονότητας του Κοσσυφοπεδίου καθώς και εκείνων που δεν έχουν επιστρέψει ακόμα στο Κοσσυφοπέδιο μετά τις εχθροπραξίες του 1999 θα γίνουν απολύτως σεβαστά. Εάν ο λαός του Κοσσυφοπεδίου επιθυμεί να ενταχθεί στην ευρωπαϊκή κοινότητα, πρέπει να μάθει να ζει με ισότητα και σεβασμό προς τις διαφορές.
Η τρέχουσα λεπτομερής επισκόπηση των κριτηρίων είναι συνεπώς μια σοβαρή πρόκληση. Το πόσο θετική θα είναι η αναθεώρηση εξαρτάται από την πρόοδο που γίνεται. Το αποτέλεσμά της δεν είναι βέβαιο. Αναγνωρίζω ότι έχει σημειωθεί πραγματική πρόοδος στην εφαρμογή των κριτηρίων, αλλά απαιτούνται να γίνουν περισσότερα. Η αποτυχία να επιδείξουμε αφοσίωση για περαιτέρω εργασία σε βασικούς τομείς δεν θα προοιωνίζεται θετικό αποτέλεσμα της αναλυτικής επισκόπησης. Το μέλλον έγκειται ως εκ τούτου στα χέρια των αρχών του Κοσσυφοπεδίου στην Πρίστινα. Στο μεταξύ, η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση έχει να διαδραματίσει σημαντικό ρόλο στην υποστήριξη της περαιτέρω προόδου, ιδίως στον τομέα της οικονομικής εξέλιξης."@el10
"Señor Presidente, me complace estar aquí en el Parlamento Europeo al comienzo de la Presidencia británica de la Unión Europea. Los próximos seis meses serán cruciales para muchos países de los Balcanes Occidentales. Como Ministro para Europa deseo proseguir con el programa de trabajo heredado y ayudar a los países de la región a avanzar más por el camino hacia Europa.
Es evidente que Serbia y Montenegro han dado grandes pasos en los últimos seis meses. En abril, la Comisión Europea concluyó un estudio de viabilidad positivo que recomienda que la Unión Europea inicie negociaciones con Serbia y Montenegro en torno al Acuerdo de Estabilización y Asociación. El Consejo de Ministros ha aceptado esta recomendación y ha invitado a la Comisión a preparar un mandato de negociación. Este es un paso importante para el avance de Serbia y Montenegro hacia su integración en la Unión Europea.
Para el 5 de octubre, que marca el quinto aniversario de los cambios democráticos en Belgrado, o para el décimo aniversario de los Acuerdos de Dayton-París de noviembre a más tardar, nos gustaría que Serbia y Montenegro hubieran iniciado las negociaciones sobre un acuerdo de estabilización y asociación. Pero es preciso que siga mejorando la cooperación con el Tribunal Penal Internacional y, a este respecto, Mladic y Karadzic son cruciales, sobre todo a la luz del aniversario de la masacre de Srebrenica, que conmemoraremos la semana que viene.
Asimismo, quiero destacar la importancia que tiene el diálogo entre Belgrado y Pristina para todos los ciudadanos de Kosovo. Solamente a través de la participación en las instituciones democráticas de Gobierno pueden garantizar los serbios kosovares que se tengan en cuenta sus intereses. Hemos celebrado la decisión de Belgrado de animar a los serbios kosovares a participar en los grupos de trabajo de descentralización y esperamos que Belgrado la cumpla.
Bosnia y Herzegovina también ha dado recientemente grandes pasos hacia la apertura de negociaciones sobre un acuerdo de estabilización y asociación con la Unión Europea. Este trofeo está al alcance de la mano de Bosnia y Herzegovina, pero no lo podrá tocar mientras no cumpla las condiciones pertinentes, que incluyen un acuerdo sobre la reestructuración policial, la reforma de la radiotelevisión pública y la plena cooperación con el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la antigua Yugoslavia.
Nos gustaría que Bosnia y Herzegovina entablaran negociaciones en torno a un acuerdo de estabilización y asociación durante nuestra Presidencia para el décimo aniversario del Acuerdo de Paz de Dayton-París, pero para ello las autoridades bosnias han de avanzar más en el cumplimiento de las prioridades del estudio de viabilidad.
Hoy he intentado resumir la situación actual con respecto a nuestras prioridades en relación con los países de los Balcanes Occidentales para los próximos seis meses. Sin duda nos aguardan grandes desafíos, pero permítanme terminar con una nota de optimismo.
En los últimos diez años muchas cosas han cambiado a mejor: en toda la región se han celebrado elecciones libres y limpias; los cambios de Gobierno a través de las urnas ya son rutina; ya no existe la amenaza de un conflicto a gran escala; los países de la región cooperan para mejorar las vidas de sus ciudadanos. La Unión Europea y otros socios internacionales se han unido para trabajar con la región con objeto de mantener la estabilidad y crear prosperidad. Los días oscuros de principios de la década de 1990 parecen en su mayor parte un recuero lejano. Pero a medida que avanzamos hacia la integración cada vez mayor entre los países de los Balcanes Occidentales y la Unión Europea, dependerá de los países en cuestión que no puedan ser rechazados.
Sabemos que hay que hacer honor al compromiso de la Unión Europea con las regiones y nos comprometemos a ello. Pero durante esta época de introspección en la Unión Europea y de incertidumbre sobre su forma y orientación futuras, es muy importante que los países de la región cumplan sus propios compromisos, no en interés de la Unión Europea, aunque esto sea importante, sino por el bien de sus ciudadanos, que durante demasiado tiempo han sufrido a manos de quienes decían representar sus intereses, pero que en realidad solo han fomentado la hostilidad y el conflicto.
La próxima semana, tal y como reconoce el título de este debate, marca el décimo aniversario de la masacre de Srebrenica, que ocurrió en julio de 1995. Entre siete y ocho mil hombres y mujeres musulmanes fueron asesinados a sangre fría en el peor acto de genocidio de Europa desde 1945. Reconocemos que la comunidad internacional no se dio cuenta de lo que ocurría hasta que fue demasiado tarde y no cumplió su deber de proteger a civiles inocentes, hombres desarmados, mujeres y niños. Sin embargo, sean cuales sean los pecados de omisión de la comunidad internacional, que lamentamos profundamente en estos momentos de tristeza y rememoración, no olvidemos los pecados de acción de las fuerzas atacantes serbobosnias. La responsabilidad última recae en quienes asesinaron, violaron y torturaron a sangre fría.
Como todos sabemos, algunos ya han sido juzgados y declarados culpables de la parte que les corresponde en estas atrocidades, y otros han sido absueltos. Pero quienes se consideran los máximos responsables, Ratko Mladic y Radovan Karadzic, siguen huyendo de la justicia. Diez años después de este terrible suceso, sin duda ya es hora de que las autoridades de la región –de Serbia y Montenegro, de Bosnia y Herzegovina y de Croacia– cojan el toro por los cuernos y cumplan sus obligaciones internacionales de cooperar plenamente con el Tribunal Penal Internacional para la antigua Yugoslavia. Pero también es hora de que hagan honor a sus obligaciones con respecto a
pueblos y eliminen los grandes obstáculos que impiden que ocupen el lugar que les corresponde en la familia europea de naciones. Exhorto a todos quienes están en condiciones de marcar la diferencia a colaborar para eliminar este veneno del organismo político y entregar a todos los fugitivos destacados que están acusados de crímenes de guerra para que se haga justicia en La Haya.
También es un privilegio, al asumir la Presidencia de la Unión Europea en este momento, encontrarme con tanta esperanza y, de hecho, oportunidades. Croacia está a punto de iniciar las negociaciones de adhesión para llegar a ser miembro de pleno derecho de la Unión Europea, solo diez años después del final de la guerra en 1995. Tal y como el Consejo Europeo ha dejado claro en una serie de ocasiones, es responsabilidad de Zagreb eliminar el único gran obstáculo a estas negociaciones: la falta de plena cooperación con el Tribunal Penal Internacional de La Haya. La Presidencia de la Unión Europea está dispuesta a entablar negociaciones tan pronto como el Consejo esté convencido de que se cumple dicha obligación. Naturalmente, la forma más sencilla de superar este obstáculo sería arrestar y entregar al fugitivo Ante Gotovina.
Sería una señal de nuestro compromiso con todos los países de los Balcanes Occidentales y con los compromisos de Salónica de que todos ellos son candidatos potenciales, si pudiéramos iniciar negociaciones de adhesión durante nuestra Presidencia. Pero la pelota está en el tejado de Zagreb.
La Antigua República Yugoslava de Macedonia también ha avanzado mucho desde el estallido del conflicto étnico en 2001. Aunque todavía hay mucho que hacer para aplicar completamente los términos del Acuerdo Marco de Ohrid, este mismo año la Comisión publicará su opinión sobre la solicitud de la República de entrar en la Unión Europea, que presentó el año pasado. Como con cualquier otro solicitante, el pleno cumplimiento de los criterios de Copenhague es un requisito imprescindible. Esperamos poder ayudar a las autoridades de Skopje en su avance por la vía trazada en el Acuerdo de Estabilización y Asociación, sobre todo combatiendo la corrupción y el crimen organizado y aplicando la reforma económica y judicial.
El calendario de la apertura de negociaciones dependerá del compromiso de las autoridades de abordar estas cuestiones, tanto en hechos como en palabras. En Albania parece que las recientes elecciones se han celebrado en general de manera pacífica. Mientras sigue el escrutinio, insistimos a todas las fuerzas políticas en que respeten el debido proceso electoral y se resistan a emitir juicios prematuros sobre el resultado. Sin embargo, esperamos que se forme, tan pronto como sea posible, un nuevo Gobierno para garantizar que Albania pueda continuar avanzando hacia un acuerdo de estabilización y asociación. A este respecto, el nuevo Gobierno necesitará abordar los problemas endémicos de la corrupción y el crimen organizado y aplicar la reforma judicial si quiere cumplir sus aspiraciones europeas, que apoyamos sin reservas. Uno de los mayores desafíos que afrontamos, por supuesto, es Kosovo. El tiempo avanza rápido y deberíamos abordar la difícil y delicada cuestión del estatuto definitivo de Kosovo. Cualquier resultado debe valer para todas las comunidades de Kosovo y reforzar la estabilidad regional. Por este motivo, el grupo de contacto y la Unión Europea han descartado toda vuelta al
previo a 1999 o toda división territorial de Kosovo. Tampoco serviría a los intereses de la población de Kosovo o de la región.
En cuanto a la independencia, sin duda es una opción. Pero quiero recordar a quienes defienden la independencia que han de convencer a todas las comunidades y al mundo en general de que la independencia puede funcionar y de que se respetarán plenamente los derechos de las minorías de Kosovo, así como los de quienes aún tienen que regresar a Kosovo tras los sucesos violentos de 1999. Si los ciudadanos de Kosovo quieren entrar en la gran familia europea, han de aprender a vivir juntos en pie de igualdad, respetando sus diferencias.
Por tanto, la actual revisión a fondo de las normas es un desafío crucial. El resultado de la revisión dependerá de los avances sobre el terreno. No es una conclusión preconcebida. Reconozco que realmente se ha avanzado en la aplicación de normas, pero queda mucho por hacer. La falta de voluntad de seguir trabajando en aspectos cruciales no favorecería un resultado positivo de la revisión exhaustiva. Por tanto, el futuro está en manos de las autoridades de Kosovo en Pristina. Mientras tanto, la Unión Europea tiene un papel importante que desempeñar apoyando la continuidad del progreso, en particular en el ámbito del desarrollo económico."@es20
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@et5
".
Arvoisa puhemies, olen erittäin mielissäni voidessani olla läsnä täällä Euroopan parlamentissa Ison-Britannian aloittaessa kautensa Euroopan unionin puheenjohtajavaltiona. Seuraava puolivuotiskausi on monille Länsi-Balkanin maille ratkaisevaa aikaa. Eurooppaministerinä aion jatkaa perimämme asialistan toteuttamista ja pyrin auttamaan alueen maita lähentymään Eurooppaa.
Käynnissä oleva laaja vaatimusten tarkastelu on siksi ratkaiseva haaste. Kuinka myönteinen arviosta tulee, riippuu paikalla aikaan saadusta edistyksestä. Sen lopputulos ei ole itsestäänselvyys. Totean, että vaatimusten toteuttamisessa on tapahtunut todellista edistystä, mutta vielä on tehtävä enemmän. Laajan arvioinnin myönteisen tuloksen kannalta ei ole lupaavaa, jos ei osoiteta sitoumusta avainalueilla tarvittaviin lisäponnisteluihin. Tulevaisuus onkin Pristinassa olevien kosovolaisviranomaisten käsissä. Euroopan unionilla on tällä välin merkittävä tehtävä jatkuvan edistyksen tukemisessa erityisesti talouskehityksen alalla.
Serbia ja Montenegro on selvästi edistynyt hyvää vauhtia viimeksi kuluneen puolen vuoden aikana. Euroopan komission huhtikuussa toteuttamassa myönteisessä toteutettavuustutkimuksessa Euroopan unionia suositeltiin aloittamaan neuvottelut vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksesta Serbia ja Montenegron kanssa. Neuvosto hyväksyi tämän suosituksen ja kehotti komissiota laatimaan neuvotteluvaltuudet. Tämä on merkittävä edistysaskel Serbia ja Montenegrolle kohti yhdentymistä Euroopan unioniin.
Toivomme, että Serbia ja Montenegro aloittaisi neuvottelut vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksesta 5. lokakuuta mennessä, jolloin Belgradin demokraattisista muutoksista tulee kuluneeksi viisi vuotta, tai viimeistään marraskuussa, jolloin juhlitaan Pariisissa allekirjoitetun Daytonin rauhansopimuksen kymmenettä vuosipäivää. Kansainvälisen rikostuomioistuimen kanssa tehtävän yhteistyön on kohennuttava edelleen, ja tässä ovat avainasemassa Mladic ja Karadzic sitäkin suuremmalla syyllä, kun muistelemme ensi viikolla Srebrenican joukkosurman vuosipäivää.
Haluan myös korostaa, kuinka tärkeätä Belgradin ja Pristinan välinen vuoropuhelu on kaikkien kosovolaisten etujen kannalta. Ainoastaan osallistumalla demokraattisiin hallintoelimiin Kosovon serbit voivat varmistua siitä, että heidän näkökulmansa otetaan huomioon. Pidämme myönteisenä Belgradin päätöstä kannustaa Kosovon serbejä osallistumaan vallan hajauttamista käsitteleviin työryhmiin ja oletamme Belgradin huolehtivan sen toteutumisesta.
Bosnia ja Hertsegovina on myös hiljattain saanut aikaan merkittävää edistystä neuvottelujen aloittamiseksi Euroopan unionin kanssa vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksesta. Tuo palkinto on nyt Bosnia ja Hertsegovinan ulottuvilla, mutta jää sen tavoittamattomiin, kunnes se täyttää tarvittavat ennakkoehdot, joihin kuuluvat poliisivoimien perusteellinen uudistus, yleisradiotoiminnan uudistaminen ja osoitus täydellisestä yhteistyöhalukkuudesta Jugoslavian alueen kansainvälisen rikostuomioistuimen kanssa.
Toivomme Bosnia ja Hertsegovinan aloittavan puheenjohtajuuskaudellamme neuvottelut vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksesta Daytonin rauhansopimuksen kymmenenteen vuosipäivään mennessä, mutta se edellyttää Bosnian viranomaisilta lisätoimia toteutettavuustutkimuksessa asetettujen prioriteettien täyttämiseksi.
Olen yrittänyt tänään esittää yhteenvedon tämänhetkisestä tilanteesta Länsi-Balkania koskevien tavoitteidemme suhteen tulevalla puolivuotiskaudella. Edessä on epäilemättä suuria haasteita, mutta haluaisin kuitenkin päättää puheenvuoroni optimistiseen sävyyn.
Kuluneiden noin kymmenen vuoden aikana on tapahtunut paljon myönteisiä muutoksia: koko alueen maissa on järjestetty vapaita ja rehellisiä vaaleja, hallituksenvaihdokset vaalitulosten perusteella kuuluvat nyt asiaan, laajamittaiset konfliktit eivät enää ole uhkana ja alueen maat työskentelevät yhteisvoimin kohentaakseen kansalaistensa elinoloja. Euroopan unioni ja muut kansainväliset kumppanit tekevät yhteistuumin yhteistyötä kyseisen alueen kanssa vakauden säilyttämiseksi ja hyvinvoinnin luomiseksi. Näyttää siltä, että 1990-luvun alkupuolen synkeät ajat olisivat enää vain etäinen muisto. Mutta edetessämme kohti Länsi-Balkanin maiden ja Euroopan unionin tiiviimpää yhdentymistä, asianomaisten maiden on saatava meidät täysin vakuuttuneiksi asiastaan.
Olemme tietoisia siitä, että Euroopan unionin sitoumusta kyseisten alueiden tilanteeseen on noudatettava, ja otamme sen tehtäväksemme. Kun Euroopan unioni parhaillaan tutkiskelee itseään ja on epävarma tulevasta kokoonpanostaan ja suunnastaan, on kuitenkin entistäkin tärkeämpää, että alueen maat noudattavat omia sitoumuksiaan eivätkä tee sitä Euroopan unionin etujen vuoksi – vaikka sekin on tärkeätä – vaan omien kansalaistensa tähden. He ovat aivan liian pitkään joutuneet kärsimään niiden käsissä, jotka väittivät edustavansa heidän etujaan mutta itse asiassa vain lietsoivat vihamielisyyttä ja erimielisyyksiä.
Kuten tämän keskustelun otsikosta käy ilmi, Srebrenicassa heinäkuussa 1995 tehdystä joukkomurhasta tulee ensi viikolla kuluneeksi 10 vuotta. Tuossa kansanmurhan kaltaisessa teossa, joka oli pahin laatuaan Euroopassa sitten vuoden 1945, surmattiin kylmäverisesti 7 000–8 000 muslimimiestä ja -naista.
Myönnämme, ettei kansainvälinen yhteisö kyennyt ymmärtämään, mitä oli tapahtumassa, ennen kuin oli liian myöhäistä, ja se epäonnistui tehtävässään suojella viattomia siviilejä eli aseistautumattomia miehiä, naisia ja lapsia. Vaikka tällä surun ja muistamisen hetkellä pahoittelemmekin syvästi kansainvälisen yhteisön laiminlyöntejä, meidän ei pidä unohtaa Bosnian serbien hyökkäysjoukkojen tekemiä rikoksia. Vastuu kuuluu viime kädessä niille, jotka murhasivat, raiskasivat ja kiduttivat kylmäverisesti.
Kuten tiedämme, muutamia henkilöitä on jo oikeudenkäynnin perusteella todettu syyllisiksi noihin kauheuksiin ja toisia on vapautettu syytteestä. Mutta kaikkein suurimpina syyllisinä pidetyt Ratko Mladic ja Radovan Karadzic ovat vielä vapaalla jalalla ja pakoilevat oikeutta. Kun tuosta kammottavasta tapahtumasta on nyt kulunut 10 vuotta, alueen viranomaisten niin Serbia ja Montenegrossa, Bosnia ja Hertsegovinassa kuin Kroatiassa on aika tarttua härkää sarvista ja täyttää kansainväliset velvoitteensa tehdäkseen täysimääräisesti yhteistyötä entisen Jugoslavian alueen kansainvälisen rikostuomioistuimen kanssa. Mutta niiden on myös aika täyttää velvoitteensa
kansojansa kohtaan poistamalla jäljellä olevat esteet, jotta nuo kansat voisivat saada niille kuuluvan sijan kansojen eurooppalaisen perheen keskuudessa. Vetoan kaikkiin, joilla asemansa puolesta on edellytykset muuttaa tilannetta, työskentelemään yhdessä tämän myrkyn poistamiseksi valtiokoneistosta ja luovuttamaan kaikki vielä vapaana olevat, sotarikoksista syytetyt pakoilijat, jotta heidän saataisiin tuomioistuimen kuultaviksi Haagiin.
Ottaessamme nyt hoitaaksemme Euroopan unionin puheenjohtajuuden, meillä on myös suuri etuoikeus todeta, että tarjolla on niin paljon toivoa ja todellakin myös mahdollisuuksia. Kroatia on käynnistämäisillään neuvottelut Euroopan unionin täysjäsenyydestä, kun sodan päättymisestä vuonna 1995 on kulunut vasta 10 vuotta. Eurooppa-neuvosto on ilmoittanut useaan otteeseen selvästi, että on Zagrebin tehtävä poistaa ainoa neuvottelujen tiellä vielä oleva este: se ei edelleenkään tee täysimääräisesti yhteistyötä Haagissa sijaitsevan kansainvälisen rikostuomioistuimen kanssa. Euroopan unionin puheenjohtajavaltiona olemme valmiit aloittamaan neuvottelut heti kun neuvosto on saanut varmuuden siitä, että kyseinen velvoite on hoidettu. Selvästi helpoin keino tuon esteen voittamiseen olisi pakoilevan Ante Gotovinan pidättäminen ja luovutus.
Jos saisimme aloitettua jäsenyysneuvottelut puheenjohtajuuskaudellamme, se oli kaikille Länsi-Balkanin maille merkki sitoutumisestamme Thessalonikin toimintasuunnitelmaan ja siihen, että ne kaikki ovat mahdollisia jäsenehdokkaita. Mutta aloite on nyt selvästi Zagrebin käsissä.
Jugoslavian entinen tasavalta Makedonia on myös edistynyt paljon vuonna 2001 puhjenneen etnisen konfliktin jälkeen. Vaikka Ohridin puitesopimuksen ehtojen täyttäminen kokonaisuudessaan vaatii vielä työtä, komissio aikoo julkaista vielä tänä vuonna lausuntonsa Makedonian tasavallan viime vuonna jättämästä jäsenyyshakemuksesta. Kuten kaikkien muiden hakijamaiden kohdalla, edellytyksenä on Kööpenhaminan kriteereiden täydellinen noudattaminen. Olemme valmiit auttamaan Skopjen viranomaisia etenemään vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksen ehtojen noudattamisessa, erityisesti korruption ja järjestäytyneen rikollisuuden torjunnassa sekä talous- ja oikeusreformin toteuttamisessa.
Neuvottelujen aloittamisajankohta riippuu maan viranomaisten päättäväisyydestä puuttua noihin ongelmiin niin sanoin kuin teoin. Albaniassa hiljattain pidetyt vaalit näyttäisivät yleisesti ottaen sujuneen rauhallisesti. Ääntenlaskennan ollessa vielä kesken kehotamme kaikkia poliittisia voimia kunnioittamaan asianmukaista vaalimenettelyä ja pidättymään tekemästä ennenaikaisia arvioita vaalituloksesta. Toivomme kuitenkin, että uusi hallitus voitaisiin muodostaa mahdollisimman pian, jotta Albania voisi edetä kohti vakautus- ja assosiaatiosopimuksen tekemistä. Uuden hallituksen onkin puututtava laajamittaiseen korruptioon ja järjestäytyneeseen rikollisuuteen sekä pantava toimeen oikeusreformi, jos se aikoo toteuttaa eurooppalaiset pyrkimyksensä, joita kannatamme täysin. Yksi suurimmista ongelmistamme on tietenkin Kosovo, ja hyvin pian on aika käsitellä vaikeata ja arkaluontoista kysymystä sen pysyvästä asemasta. Lopputuloksessa on otettava huomioon Kosovon kaikkien yhteisöjen edut, ja sen on vahvistettava alueen vakautta. Siksi sekä kontaktiryhmä että Euroopan unioni ovat torjuneet vaihtoehdot ennen vuotta 1999 vallinneeseen tilanteeseen palaamisesta tai Kosovon sisäisestä jaosta. Kumpikaan noista vaihtoehdoista ei olisi kosovolaisten itsensä tai alueen etujen mukainen.
Itsenäisyys on epäilemättä yksi vaihtoehto. Haluaisin kuitenkin muistuttaa itsenäisyyden kannattajia siitä, että heidän on saatava kaikki yhteisöt ja koko maailma vakuuttuneiksi siitä, että itsenäisyys toimii ja että Kosovon vähemmistöjen oikeuksia ja niiden oikeuksia, jotka ovat vielä palaamatta Kosovoon vuoden 1999 väkivaltaisuuksien jälkeen, noudatetaan täysin. Jos kosovolaiset haluavat yhtyä Euroopan valtavirtaan, heidän on opittava elämään yhdessä tasa-arvoisina ja erilaisuutta kunnioittaen."@fi7
"Monsieur le Président, je me réjouis de ma présence devant le Parlement européen au début de la présidence britannique de l’Union européenne. Les six prochains mois seront décisifs pour de nombreux pays des Balkans occidentaux. En tant que ministre des affaires européennes, j’attends avec impatience de poursuivre l’agenda en cours et de travailler à aider les pays de la région à poursuivre leur cheminement vers l’Europe.
La Serbie-et-Monténégro a incontestablement avancé à grandes enjambées au cours des six derniers mois. En avril, la Commission européenne a conclu positivement une étude de faisabilité, recommandant que l’Union entame des négociations avec la Serbie-et-Monténégro sur l’accord de stabilisation et d’association. Le Conseil de ministres a approuvé cette recommandation et a invité la Commission à préparer un mandat de négociation. Il s’agit là d’une étape importante dans le cheminement de la Serbie-et-Monténégro vers l’intégration à l’Union européenne.
D’ici au 5 octobre, date du cinquième anniversaire des changements démocratiques à Belgrade, ou d’ici le dixième anniversaire des accords de Dayton-Paris en novembre au plus tard, nous voudrions que la Serbie-et-Monténégro ait entamé les négociations en vue d’un accord de stabilisation et d’association. Mais la coopération avec le Tribunal pénal international doit se renforcer plus encore. À cet égard, MM. Mladic et Karadzic sont un élément essentiel, surtout au vu de l’anniversaire du massacre de Srebrenica, que nous commémorerons la semaine prochaine.
Je tiens également à souligner l’importance du dialogue entre Belgrade et Pristina dans l’intérêt de tous les peuples du Kosovo. Seule une participation aux institutions démocratiques du gouvernement permettra aux serbes du Kosovo de garantir que leurs préoccupations soient prises en considération. Nous avons salué la décision de Belgrade d’encourager ces derniers à participer aux groupes de travail sur la décentralisation et nous nous tournons vers Belgrade pour mener celle-ci à bien.
La Bosnie-et-Herzégovine a également réalisé d’importants progrès dans le sens d’une ouverture des négociations sur un accord de stabilisation et d’association avec l’Union européenne. Un tel résultat est à la portée du pays, mais il ne sera pas atteint tant que celui-ci n’aura pas respecté les conditions en la matière, qui incluent un accord sur la restructuration des forces de police, une réforme de l’audiovisuel public et une pleine coopération avec le Tribunal pénal international pour l’ex-Yougoslavie.
Nous souhaiterions voir la Bosnie-et-Herzégovine ouvrir les négociations en vue d’un accord de stabilisation et d’association sous notre présidence, d’ici au dixième anniversaire des accords de paix de Dayton-Paris, mais cela nécessite que les autorités bosniaques progressent davantage dans le respect des priorités contenues dans les études de faisabilité.
J’ai essayé aujourd’hui de résumer la situation actuelle concernant nos priorités pour les pays des Balkans occidentaux au cours des six prochains mois. Il est clair que des défis considérables nous attendent, mais permettez-moi de conclure par une note d’optimisme.
Ces dix dernières années, la situation s’est améliorée en de nombreux points: des élections libres et équitables ont été organisées à travers la région; les changements de gouvernements à la suite de scrutins forment la routine; plus aucune menace de conflit à large échelle ne plane à l’horizon; les pays de la région collaborent pour améliorer les conditions de vie de leurs citoyens. L’Union européenne et d’autres partenaires internationaux travaillent de concert dans la région en vue de préserver la stabilité et d’engendrer la prospérité. Les jours sombres du début des années 90 semblent, dans l’ensemble, depuis longtemps révolus. Cependant, alors que nous progressons vers une plus grande intégration entre les pays des Balkans occidentaux et l’Union européenne, il incombe aux pays concernés de présenter un dossier irréprochable.
Nous sommes conscients que l’engagement de l’Union européenne dans les régions doit être honoré, et nous comptons bien agir pour qu’il en soit ainsi. Mais en cette période d’introspection au sein de l’Union et d’incertitude quant à sa structure et ses orientations futures, il importe d’autant plus que les pays de la région respectent leurs propres engagements, non pas dans l’intérêt de l’Union - bien que cela importe également -, mais pour le bien-être de leurs propres peuples, qui ont souffert bien trop longtemps sous la férule de ceux qui prétendaient représenter leurs intérêts mais qui, en réalité, n’ont fait que fomenter l’hostilité et les dissensions.
Comme l’indique le titre de ce débat, la semaine prochaine marquera le dixième anniversaire du massacre de Srebrenica, en juillet 1995. Sept à huit milliers d’hommes et de femmes musulmans ont été tués de sang froid au cours du pire acte de génocide perpétré en Europe depuis 1945. Nous reconnaissons que la communauté internationale n’a pas pris la mesure de ce qui se déroulait avant qu’il ne soit trop tard pour agir et n’a pas rempli son devoir de protection de citoyens innocents, d’hommes, de femmes et d’enfants non armés. Cependant, quels que soient les péchés par omission de la communauté internationale, que nous déplorons vivement en cette période de tristesse et de recueillement, nous ne devons pas en oublier les péchés par action commis par les forces bosno-serbes à l’origine de l’attaque. L’ultime responsabilité incombe à ceux qui ont tué, violé et torturé de sang froid.
Comme nous le savons tous, certains ont déjà été jugés et condamnés pour leur rôle dans ces atrocités, tandis que d’autres ont été acquittés. Mais ceux qui sont tenus pour les principaux responsables - Ratko Mladic et Radovan Karadzic - restent en cavale et se soustraient à la justice. Dix ans après ce terrible événement, il est clairement temps pour les autorités de la région - en Serbie-et-Monténégro, en Bosnie-et-Herzégovine et en Croatie - de prendre le taureau par les cornes et de respecter leurs obligations internationales en coopérant pleinement avec la Cour pénale internationale pour l’ex-Yougoslavie. Mais il est temps également que ces autorités honorent vis-à-vis de
peuples leurs obligations de retirer les obstacles actuels, qui entravent leur retour dans le concert européen des nations. J’appelle tous ceux qui sont en mesure de faire évoluer la situation à travailler de conserve pour extraire ce poison de l’organisme politique et à livrer les fugitifs actuels inculpés de crimes de guerre, afin qu’ils puissent répondre de leurs actes devant la justice à La Haye.
C’est également un privilège, au moment de reprendre aujourd’hui la présidence de l’Union européenne, de faire face à tant d’espoir ainsi qu’à tant d’opportunités. La Croatie est sur le point d’entamer des négociations d’adhésion en vue de devenir un membre à part entière de l’Union, dix ans seulement après la fin de la guerre en 1995. Comme l’a affirmé clairement le Conseil en de multiples occasions, il incombe à Zagreb de faire sauter l’unique obstacle actuel au lancement de ces négociations: l’absence continue de coopération pleine et entière avec la Cour pénale internationale de La Haye. La présidence de l’Union européenne est prête à ouvrir les négociations dès que le Conseil aura estimé que cette obligation a été respectée. La meilleure manière de surmonter cet obstacle serait incontestablement d’arrêter et d’extrader le fugitif Ante Gotovina.
En entamant les négociations d’adhésion durant notre présidence, nous témoignerions à tous les pays des Balkans occidentaux notre engagement à respecter la décision que nous avons prise à Thessalonique de les considérer tous comme des candidats potentiels. Mais la balle est aujourd’hui clairement dans le camp de Zagreb.
L’ancienne République yougoslave de Macédoine a également réalisé de nets progrès depuis l’éclatement des conflits ethniques en 2001. Si beaucoup reste à faire pour appliquer pleinement les dispositions de l’accord-cadre d’Ohrid, la Commission publiera dans le courant de l’année son avis quant à la demande d’adhésion à l’Union européenne présentée l’année dernière par le pays. Comme pour tout autre candidat, le respect intégral des critères de Copenhague est une condition indispensable. Nous attendons avec impatience d’aider les autorités de Skopje à poursuivre leurs progrès relatifs à l’accord de stabilisation et d’association, notamment en matière de lutte contre la corruption et le crime organisé et d’application des réformes économiques et judiciaires.
Le calendrier d’ouverture des négociations dépendra de l’engagement des autorités à traiter ces questions, tant en actes qu’en paroles. En Albanie, il semblerait que les récentes élections se soient déroulées de manière globalement pacifique. Tandis que le dépouillement se poursuit, nous appelons toutes les forces politiques à respecter le processus électoral et à éviter toute prise de position prématurée quant au résultat. Nous espérons néanmoins qu’un nouveau gouvernement pourra être formé le plus tôt possible, de manière à garantir que l’Albanie puisse poursuivre ses progrès dans la perspective d’un accord de stabilisation et d’association. À cet égard, le nouveau gouvernement devra résoudre les problèmes endémiques que représentent la corruption et le crime organisé et appliquer les réformes juridiques s’il veut donner corps à ses aspirations européennes, que nous soutenons pleinement. L’un des plus grands défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés est naturellement le Kosovo. Le moment où nous devrons répondre à la question délicate et sensible du statut final de cette province approche à grand pas. Tout statut doit convenir à toutes les communautés du Kosovo et renforcer la stabilité régionale. C’est pourquoi le groupe de contact et l’Union européenne ont tous deux exclu un retour au statu quo prévalant avant 1999 ou une partition interne de la province. Aucune de ces solutions ne servirait les intérêts de la population de la province ou de la région.
Quant à l’indépendance, elle constitue clairement une option. Mais je rappellerai aux partisans d’une telle indépendance qu’ils devront convaincre toutes les communautés et le monde dans son ensemble de la viabilité de cette option et du plein respect des droits des minorités du Kosovo et de ceux qui doivent encore revenir dans la province après les violences de 1999. Si les peuples du Kosovo souhaitent rejoindre le concert européen, ils doivent apprendre à vivre ensemble sur un pied d’égalité et en respectant leurs différences.
L’actuel examen global des normes est donc un défi essentiel. Son degré de positivité dépendra des progrès réalisés sur le terrain. Le résultat est loin d’être garanti. Je reconnais que de réels progrès ont été accomplis concernant l’application des normes, mais il convient d’en faire plus. L’absence manifeste d’engagement à poursuivre les travaux dans certains secteurs clés ne jouerait pas en faveur d’un résultat positif de l’évaluation globale. L’avenir est donc entre les mains des autorités du Kosovo à Pristina. Entre temps, l’Union européenne a un rôle important à jouer dans le soutien à la poursuite des progrès, notamment dans le domaine du développement économique."@fr8
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@hu11
"Signor Presidente, sono lieto di presentarmi di fronte al Parlamento europeo all’inizio della Presidenza britannica dell’Unione europea. I prossimi sei mesi saranno un periodo critico per molti paesi dei Balcani occidentali. Nel mio ruolo di ministro per gli Affari europei, sono ansioso di portare avanti l’agenda che ho ereditato e di lavorare per aiutare i paesi della regione a proseguire il loro cammino di avvicinamento all’Europa.
L’unione di Serbia e Montenegro ha compiuto enormi passi avanti negli ultimi sei mesi. In aprile la Commissione europea ha terminato uno studio di fattibilità positivo che raccomanda all’Unione europea l’apertura dei negoziati con Serbia e Montenegro per l’accordo di stabilizzazione e di associazione. Il Consiglio dei ministri ha accolto la raccomandazione e invitato la Commissione a redigere il mandato negoziale. E’ un progresso importante per la Serbia e Montenegro verso l’integrazione nell’Unione europea.
Entro il 5 ottobre, data del quinto anniversario dei cambiamenti democratici a Belgrado, oppure al più tardi entro il decimo anniversario degli accordi di Dayton-Parigi a novembre, vorremmo avviare i negoziati per l’accordo di stabilizzazione e di associazione con Serbia e Montenegro. Tuttavia, la cooperazione con il Tribunale penale internazionale deve continuare a migliorare e in questo senso è determinante la questione di Mladić e Karadžić , a maggior ragione alla luce dell’anniversario del massacro di Srebrenica, che commemoreremo settimana prossima.
Vorrei altresì porre in rilievo l’importanza del dialogo tra Belgrado e Pristina nell’interesse di tutta la popolazione del Kosovo. Soltanto tramite la partecipazione alle istituzioni democratiche del governo i serbi del Kosovo potranno garantire che le loro preoccupazioni saranno prese in considerazione. Abbiamo accolto con favore la decisione di Belgrado di incoraggiare i serbi del Kosovo a partecipare ai gruppi di lavoro decentrati e a guardare a Belgrado per conseguire tale scopo.
La Bosnia-Erzegovina, a sua volta, ha recentemente realizzato importanti progressi in vista dell’avvio dei negoziati su un accordo di stabilizzazione e di associazione con l’Unione europea. Questo riconoscimento è alla portata della Bosnia-Erzegovina, ma rimarrà inaccessibile fintanto che non saranno osservati i requisiti del caso, che includono un accordo sulla ristrutturazione della polizia, la riforma della radiotelevisione pubblica e la dimostrazione della piena cooperazione con il Tribunale penale internazionale per l’ex Jugoslavia.
Vorremmo che la Bosnia-Erzegovina aprisse i negoziati per l’AAS sotto la nostra Presidenza entro il decimo anniversario dell’accordo di pace di Dayton-Parigi, ma ciò implica ulteriori progressi da parte delle autorità bosniache per attuare le priorità indicate nello studio di fattibilità.
Oggi ho cercato di riassumere la situazione attuale rispetto alle nostre priorità per i paesi dei Balcani occidentali nel corso dei prossimi sei mesi. Sicuramente ci attendono sfide importanti, ma vorrei chiudere su una nota di ottimismo.
Nel corso degli ultimi dieci anni sono avvenuti tanti miglioramenti: si sono tenute elezioni libere e regolari in tutta la regione, l’alternanza dei governi secondo il responso delle urne è la
non esistono più minacce di conflitto su larga scala, i paesi della regione lavorano insieme per migliorare la vita dei propri cittadini. L’Unione europea e gli altri
internazionali si uniscono per lavorare con la regione al fine di mantenere la stabilità e creare prosperità. I giorni bui dell’inizio degli anni ’90 sembrano in larga misura un lontano ricordo. A mano a mano che percorriamo la strada verso una più stretta integrazione tra i paesi dei Balcani occidentali e l’Unione europea, però, spetta ai paesi in questione difendere in modo irrefutabile la propria causa.
Riteniamo che l’impegno dell’Unione europea a favore di queste regioni debba essere onorato e c’impegniamo a farlo. Ma in questa fase d’introspezione nell’Unione europea e d’incertezza circa la sua futura forma e direzione, è vieppiù importante che i paesi della regione rispettino i propri impegni, non nell’interesse dell’Unione europea – per quanto sia importante – bensì per il bene della loro gente, che ha sofferto fin troppo per mano di quanti millantavano di rappresentarne gli interessi ma, di fatto, fomentavano soltanto l’ostilità e il conflitto.
La settimana prossima – come indica il titolo della discussione – ricorre il decimo anniversario del massacro di Srebrenica nel luglio del 1995. Un numero compreso tra settemila e ottomila donne e uomini musulmani furono uccisi a sangue freddo nel peggiore atto di genocidio compiuto in Europa dal 1945. Riconosciamo che la comunità internazionale non si è resa conto di quanto stesse accadendo fino a che non è stato troppo tardi, mancando così al suo dovere di proteggere civili innocenti, uomini, donne e bambini disarmati. Tuttavia, a prescindere dal peccato di omissione della comunità internazionale, di cui ci rammarichiamo profondamente in questo momento di cordoglio e di commemorazione, non dimentichiamo i peccati commessi dalle forze d’attacco serbo-bosniache. La responsabilità ultima è di chi ha ucciso, violentato e torturato a sangue freddo.
Come tutti sappiamo, alcuni imputati sono già stati processati e condannati per il loro ruolo in queste atrocità, altri sono stati scagionati. Tuttavia, Ratko Mladić e Radovan Karadžić, considerati i principali responsabili, sono ancora latitanti e non sono stati assicurati alla giustizia. A dieci anni da questo terribile evento è senza dubbio giunto il momento per le autorità della regione – in Serbia e Montenegro, in Bosnia-Erzegovina e in Croazia – di affrontare la situazione risolutamente e ottemperare all’obbligo internazionale di cooperare appieno con il Tribunale penale internazionale per i crimini nell’ex Jugoslavia. Ma è anche ora che le autorità onorino gli obblighi che hanno nei confronti del
popolo, eliminando gli ostacoli che ancora gli impediscono di occupare il posto che gli spetta nella famiglia europea delle nazioni. Invito tutti quanti sono nella posizione di dare un contributo determinante a lavorare insieme per eliminare questo veleno dallo Stato e consegnare alla giustizia tutti i latitanti ricercati per crimini di guerra, affinché possano essere processati al Tribunale dell’Aia.
E’ altresì un privilegio detenere la Presidenza dell’Unione europea in un momento così carico di speranze e di opportunità. La Croazia è alla vigilia dell’apertura dei negoziati per diventare membro a pieno titolo dell’Unione europea, a soli dieci anni dalla fine della guerra del 1995. Come il Consiglio europeo ha chiarito in molteplici occasioni, è responsabilità di Zagabria eliminare l’unico ostacolo che ancora si frappone all’apertura del negoziato: il perdurare della mancata piena cooperazione con il Tribunale penale internazionale dell’Aia. Rivestendo la Presidenza dell’Unione europea siamo pronti ad avviare i negoziati non appena il Consiglio si sarà sincerato che quest’obbligo è stato rispettato. Chiaramente il modo più semplice di superare tale ostacolo sarebbe arrestare e consegnare il latitante Ante Gotovina.
Riuscire ad aprire i negoziati durante la nostra Presidenza sarebbe un segno del nostro impegno nei confronti di tutti i paesi dei Balcani occidentali e degli obblighi assunti a Salonicco, a considerarli tutti futuri paesi candidati. Ma l’iniziativa spetta solo a Zagabria.
Anche l’ex Repubblica jugoslava di Macedonia ha compiuto notevoli progressi dallo scoppio del conflitto etnico nel 2001. Nonostante rimanga ancora da lavorare per attuare integralmente il mandato dell’accordo quadro di Ohrid, più avanti nel corso dell’anno la Commissione pubblicherà il suo parere sulla domanda d’adesione all’Unione europea presentata dalla Repubblica l’anno scorso. Come per qualunque altro candidato, il presupposto è la piena ottemperanza ai criteri di Copenaghen. Siamo ansiosi di assistere le autorità di Skopje affinché compiano ulteriori progressi rispetto all’accordo di stabilizzazione e di associazione, in particolare nella lotta contro la corruzione e la criminalità organizzata e nell’attuazione della riforma economica e giudiziaria.
La tempistica dell’apertura dei negoziati dipenderà dall’impegno delle autorità ad affrontare queste tematiche nei fatti e non solo a parole. In apparenza le ultime elezioni in Albania si sono svolte in modo generalmente pacifico. Essendo tuttora in corso lo spoglio delle schede, lanciamo un appello a tutte le forze politiche perché rispettino il processo elettorale e resistano alla tentazione di pronunciare giudizi prematuri sul risultato. Non di meno speriamo che un nuovo governo possa essere formato quanto prima, per garantire che l’Albania possa continuare a progredire verso un accordo di stabilizzazione e associazione. Da tale punto di vista, il nuovo governo dovrà affrontare i problemi endemici della corruzione e della criminalità organizzata e attuare la riforma giudiziaria, se desidera realizzare le sue aspirazioni europee, che noi sosteniamo pienamente. Una delle maggiori sfide che ci aspetta è ovviamente il Kosovo. Molto presto dovremo affrontare la questione difficile e sensibile dello
definitivo del Kosovo. Qualunque sarà il risultato, esso dovrà andare a favore di tutte le comunità del Kosovo e rafforzare la stabilità regionale. Per questo motivo il gruppo di contatto e l’Unione europea hanno entrambi escluso il ritorno allo
ante-1999 o qualunque divisione interna del Kosovo. Nessuna delle due opzioni servirebbe gli interessi della popolazione del Kosovo e della regione.
Quanto all’indipendenza, chiaramente è una delle possibilità, ma vorrei ricordare a quanti la invocano che devono convincere tutte le comunità e il mondo intero che l’indipendenza può funzionare e che saranno pienamente rispettati i diritti delle minoranze del Kosovo e di quanti ancora devono farvi ritorno dopo le violenze del 1999. Se gli abitanti del Kosovo desiderano entrare in Europa, devono imparare a convivere su basi di uguaglianza e nel rispetto delle differenze.
L’attuale revisione completa degli
costituisce perciò una sfida cruciale. L’esito favorevole della revisione dipenderà dal progresso sul campo. Il risultato non è per nulla scontato. Riconosco che vi sono stati progressi reali sul fronte dell’attuazione degli
ma occorre fare di più. La mancanza di segnali che dimostrino l’impegno a continuare a lavorare nei settori chiave non sarebbe di buon auspicio ai fini di un esito positivo della revisione complessiva. Il futuro è dunque nelle mani delle autorità del Kosovo a Pristina. Nel frattempo l’Unione europea ha un importante ruolo da svolgere per sostenere ulteriori progressi, in particolare nell’ambito dello sviluppo economico."@it12
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@lt14
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@lv13
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@mt15
"Mijnheer de Voorzitter, ik ben blij hier voor het Europees Parlement te staan bij de aanvang van het Britse voorzitterschap van de Europese Unie. Het komend half jaar zal een beslissende periode zijn voor een groot aantal van de westerse Balkanlanden. Als minister voor Europese Zaken verheug ik mij erop door te gaan met de overgedragen agenda en de landen van die regio te helpen bij hun vooruitgang op weg naar Europa.
Servië en Montenegro hebben het afgelopen half jaar zonder enige twijfel grote vooruitgang geboekt. In april heeft de Europese Commissie een haalbaarheidstudie met positieve conclusies afgerond, waarin de Europese Unie wordt aanbevolen om met Servië en Montenegro onderhandelingen te openen over een stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst. De Raad heeft deze aanbeveling overgenomen en de Commissie verzocht een onderhandelingsmandaat op te stellen. Dit is voor Servië en Montenegro een belangrijke stap in de richting van hun integratie in de Europese Unie.
Wij zouden graag willen dat voor 5 oktober aanstaande, precies vijf jaar na het begin van de democratische veranderingen in Belgrado, of anders uiterlijk in november, dat wil zeggen tien jaar na de totstandkoming van de Dayton-Parijs-akkoorden, de onderhandelingen voor een stabilisatie- en associatieakkoord met Servië en Montenegro zouden zijn gestart. Daarvoor moet echter wel de samenwerking met het Internationaal Oorlogstribunaal voor het voormalige Joegoslavië verder verbeterd worden, en in dit opzicht zijn Mladić en Karadžić sleutelfiguren, vooral in het licht van de herdenking, volgende week, van de massamoord van Srebrenica.
Verder zou ik het belang van een dialoog tussen Belgrado en Pristina willen onderstrepen, een dialoog die in het belang is van alle bevolkingsgroepen van Kosovo. Alleen door te participeren in de democratische regeringsinstellingen kunnen de Kosovaarse Serviërs er zeker van zijn dat er rekening zal worden gehouden met hun problemen. We hebben het besluit van Belgrado om de Kosovaarse Serviërs te stimuleren deel te nemen aan de werkgroepen voor decentralisatie met instemming begroet, en we rekenen erop dat Belgrado dit besluit ook daadwerkelijk uitvoert.
Bosnië-Herzegovina heeft de laatste tijd eveneens aanzienlijke vorderingen gemaakt op de weg naar onderhandelingen over een stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst met de Europese Unie. Voor Bosnië-Herzegovina is deze prijs binnen handbereik, maar die krijgt het land pas werkelijk in handen als aan de relevante voorwaarden voldaan is, zoals het instemmen met een herstructurering van de politie, het hervormen van de publieke radio en tv en het tonen van bereidheid tot volledige samenwerking met het Internationaal Oorlogstribunaal voor het voormalige Joegoslavië.
We zouden het toejuichen als de onderhandelingen over een stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst met Bosnië-Herzegovina onder ons voorzitterschap geopend zouden kunnen worden, tien jaar na de sluiting van het Dayton-Parijs-vredesakkoord, maar een vereiste is dan wel dat de Bosnische autoriteiten vooruitgang boeken ten aanzien van de punten die in de haalbaarheidsstudie als prioritair zijn aangemerkt.
Ik heb vandaag geprobeerd om een overzicht te geven van de huidige stand van zaken met betrekking tot onze prioriteiten voor de westerse Balkanlanden voor het komend halfjaar. Er liggen ongetwijfeld belangrijke uitdagingen in het verschiet, maar ik zou toch willen afsluiten met een optimistische noot.
De laatste tien jaar hebben zich tal van positieve veranderingen voorgedaan: in de hele regio zijn er vrije en eerlijke verkiezingen gehouden, wisselingen van regeringen door middel van de stembus zijn gewoon geworden, de dreiging van een grootschalig conflict is verdwenen en de landen van deze regio werken samen om het levenspeil van hun burgers te verbeteren. De Europese Unie en andere internationale partners hebben hun krachten gebundeld om samen met de regio de stabiliteit te handhaven en welvaart tot stand te brengen. Het lijkt erop dat de donkere dagen van de vroege jaren negentig hoofdzakelijk nog slechts een vage herinnering zijn. Maar ook al maken we vorderingen op weg naar een nauwere integratie tussen de westelijke Balkanlanden en de Europese Unie, het is aan de betreffende landen om die ontwikkeling onomkeerbaar te maken.
Wij begrijpen dat de Europese Unie haar toezeggingen aan de regio moet nakomen en wij verbinden ons ertoe daaraan te werken. Maar in deze tijd van reflectie in de Europese Unie en van onzekerheid omtrent haar toekomstige vorm en richting is het des te belangrijker dat ook de landen van deze regio hun beloften nakomen, niet in het belang van de Europese Unie – ofschoon dat ook een belangrijk punt is – maar ter wille van hun eigen bevolkingen, die veel te lang hebben geleden onder het optreden van degenen die zeiden hun belangen te vertegenwoordigen, maar feitelijk alleen maar aanzetten tot vijandschap en strijd.
Zoals blijkt uit de titel van dit debat, is het volgende week tien jaar geleden dat de massamoord in Srebrenica plaatsvond, in juli 1995. Zeven- tot achtduizend moslims, mannen en vrouwen, werden in koelen bloede vermoord in de ergste massamoord die er in Europa sinds 1945 gepleegd is. Wij erkennen dat de internationale gemeenschap niet heeft beseft wat er gebeurde tot het te laat was, en dat zij haar plicht heeft verzaakt om onschuldige, ongewapende burgers, mannen, vrouwen en kinderen, te beschermen. Maar welke ernstige nalatigheden de internationale gemeenschap ook te verwijten zijn, nalatigheden die wij in deze tijd van verdriet en herinneringen ten diepste betreuren, ze mogen ons niet doen vergeten welke misdaden de Bosnisch-Servische strijdkrachten als agressor hebben begaan. Uiteindelijk ligt de verantwoordelijkheid bij degenen die in koelen bloede mensen hebben gemarteld, verkracht en vermoord.
Zoals we allemaal weten, zijn sommige daders al voor de rechter gebracht en schuldig bevonden wegens hun aandeel in de gruwelijkheden, terwijl anderen zijn vrijgesproken. Maar degenen die als belangrijkste verantwoordelijken worden beschouwd – Ratko Mladić en Radovan Karadžić – zijn voortvluchtig en lopen nog steeds vrij rond. Tien jaar na deze vreselijke gebeurtenis is het echt hoog tijd dat de autoriteiten in de regio – in Servië en Montenegro, in Bosnië-Herzegovina en in Kroatië – orde op zaken stellen en aan hun internationale verplichtingen voldoen door volledig samen te werken met het Internationaal Oorlogstribunaal voor het voormalige Joegoslavië. Maar het is ook hoog tijd dat ze hun verplichtingen jegens hun
olk nakomen door de resterende obstakels weg te nemen, zodat deze volken de plaats kunnen innemen die hun toekomt in de Europese familie der naties. Ik zou al degenen die in de positie verkeren dat ze hier iets aan kunnen doen, willen oproepen samen te werken om dit gif uit het staatsbestel te verwijderen en alle personen die van oorlogsmisdaden worden verdacht en voortvluchtig zijn, uit te leveren, zodat zij terecht kunnen staan in Den Haag.
Wij verkeren in de bevoorrechte positie het voorzitterschap van de Europese Unie over te nemen op een moment waarop de hoop groot is en waarop zich inderdaad ook veel kansen voordoen. Zo staat Kroatië op het punt om de toetredingsonderhandelingen voor een volwaardig lidmaatschap van de Europese Unie te openen, amper tien jaar na het einde van de oorlog in 1995. Zoals de Europese Raad al bij verschillende gelegenheden heeft verklaard, is het aan Zagreb om het enige nog resterende obstakel voor deze onderhandelingen uit de weg te ruimen: het feit dat het land blijft weigeren volledig samen te werken met het Internationaal Oorlogstribunaal voor het voormalige Joegoslavië in Den Haag. Als voorzitter van de Europese Unie staan wij klaar om de onderhandelingen te openen zodra de Raad van oordeel is dat aan deze verplichting is voldaan. De makkelijkste manier om dit obstakel uit de weg te ruimen is natuurlijk de voortvluchtige Ante Gotovina aanhouden en uitleveren.
Het zou een teken zijn van onze verbondenheid met alle westerse Balkanlanden en van onze gehechtheid aan de toezeggingen van Thessaloniki, waarin is vastgelegd dat we hen allemaal als kandidaat-lidstaten beschouwen, als de onderhandelingen over toetreding onder ons voorzitterschap van start zouden kunnen gaan. Maar het is nadrukkelijk Zagreb dat nu aan zet is.
De Voormalige Joegoslavische Republiek Macedonië heeft sinds het uitbreken van het etnische conflict in 2001 eveneens veel vooruitgang geboekt. Hoewel er nog het nodige moet gebeuren om de bepalingen van de Kaderovereenkomst van Ohrid volledig ten uitvoer te leggen, zal de Commissie later dit jaar haar standpunt bekendmaken inzake het verzoek om toetreding tot de Europese Unie dat de Republiek Macedonië vorig jaar heeft ingediend. Net als voor andere kandidaten is het ook hier een eerste vereiste dat de criteria van Kopenhagen worden nageleefd. Wij zullen de autoriteiten in Skopje graag terzijde staan bij de verdere tenuitvoerlegging van de bepalingen van de stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst, met name die welke gericht zijn op de bestrijding van corruptie en georganiseerde misdaad en op het doorvoeren van hervormingen in de economie en het gerechtelijk apparaat.
Het begintijdstip van deze onderhandelingen zal afhangen van de bereidheid van de Macedonische autoriteiten om deze kwesties met woord en daad aan te pakken. Naar het schijnt, zijn de recente verkiezingen in Albanië over het algemeen op vreedzame wijze verlopen. Het tellen van de stemmen is nog in volle gang, maar wij dringen er bij alle politieke machthebbers op aan om het verkiezingsproces te respecteren en af te zien van voorbarige conclusies over de uitslag. We hopen echter dat er zo snel mogelijk een nieuwe regering zal kunnen worden gevormd, zodat Albanië zijn inspanningen ten behoeve van een stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst kan hervatten. Hiertoe zal de nieuwe regering de interne problemen van corruptie en georganiseerde misdaad moeten aanpakken en hervormingen in het gerechtelijk apparaat moeten doorvoeren, wil zij althans haar Europese ambities waarmaken, die wij volledig ondersteunen. Een van de grootste uitdagingen waar we voor staan, is natuurlijk Kosovo. Het tijdstip waarop de netelige en gevoelige kwestie van Kosovo’s uiteindelijke status moet worden aangepakt, komt snel naderbij. De verkiezingsuitslag, hoe die ook uitvalt, dient een oplossing te bieden voor alle bevolkingsgroepen in Kosovo en de regionale stabiliteit te versterken. Daarom hebben de contactgroep en de Europese Unie beide de mogelijkheid van een terugkeer naar de status-quo van voor 1999 of een interne opdeling van Kosovo uitgesloten. Geen van beide keuzes zou in het belang zijn van de bevolking van Kosovo of van de regio.
Onafhankelijkheid is natuurlijk een van de opties. Maar ik zou degenen die pleiten voor onafhankelijkheid erop willen wijzen dat ze alle bevolkingsgroepen en de gehele wereld ervan zullen moeten overtuigen dat onafhankelijkheid ook echt werkt, en dat de rechten van de minderheden in Kosovo en van degenen die na de gewelddadigheden van 1999 gevlucht zijn en nog naar Kosovo moeten terugkeren, volledig zullen worden gerespecteerd. Als de verschillende bevolkingsgroepen in Kosovo deel willen gaan uitmaken van het Europese integratieproces, moeten ze als gelijken leren samenleven, met respect voor hun onderlinge verschillen.
De alomvattende beoordeling van de stand van zaken met betrekking tot de implementatie van de normen die thans uitgevoerd wordt, is dan ook een beslissende uitdaging. Hoe positief die beoordeling uitpakt, hangt af van de vooruitgang die in de praktijk wordt geboekt. Het resultaat staat niet bij voorbaat vast. Ik geef toe dat er werkelijk vorderingen zijn gemaakt bij de implementatie van de normen, maar er moet nog meer worden gedaan. Wordt er te weinig inzet getoond om vooruitgang te boeken op essentiële gebieden, dan zou dat geen goed voorteken zijn voor de resultaten van deze uitgebreide beoordeling. De toekomst is dan ook in handen van de Kosovaarse autoriteiten in Pristina. Intussen dient de Europese Unie een belangrijke rol te spelen bij het ondersteunen van verdere vooruitgang, met name op het gebied van economische ontwikkeling."@nl3
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@pl16
"Senhor Presidente, é com o maior prazer que me encontro aqui no Parlamento Europeu no início da Presidência britânica da União Europeia. Os próximos seis meses vão ser um período crítico para muitos dos Estados dos Balcãs Ocidentais. Na minha qualidade de Ministro para a Europa, aguardo com a maior expectativa poder prosseguir a agenda herdada da Presidência anterior e trabalhar para contribuir para que os países daquela região avancem na estrada que conduz à Europa.
A Sérvia e o Montenegro deram, manifestamente, grandes passos em frente nos últimos seis meses. Em Abril, a Comissão Europeia concluiu um estudo de viabilidade positivo, recomendando à União Europeia que encetasse negociações com a Sérvia e o Montenegro relativamente ao Acordo de Associação e de Estabilização. O Conselho de Ministros aceitou essa recomendação e convidou a Comissão a preparar um mandato de negociação. Este é um passo importante no progresso da Sérvia e do Montenegro na via da integração na União Europeia.
Gostaríamos que até 5 de Outubro, data que assinala o quinto aniversário das transformações democráticas em Belgrado, ou, o mais tardar, até ao décimo aniversário dos Acordos Dayton-Paris, que se comemoram em Novembro, a Sérvia e o Montenegro tivessem iniciado negociações com vista a um acordo de associação e de estabilização. Mas a cooperação com o Tribunal Penal Internacional tem de continuar a melhorar e, nesse contexto, Mladic e Karadzic são fundamentais, sobretudo à luz do aniversário do massacre de Srebrenica, que iremos comemorar na próxima semana.
Também gostaria de sublinhar a importância do diálogo entre Belgrado e Pristina, no interesse de todo o povo do Kosovo. Só por meio da participação nas instituições democráticas do governo é que os Sérvios do Kosovo podem garantir que as suas preocupações sejam levadas em conta. Saudámos a decisão de Belgrado de incentivar os Sérvios do Kosovo a participar nos grupos de trabalho para a descentralização e contamos que Belgrado leve este processo até ao fim.
A Bósnia e a Herzegovina também fizeram recentemente importantes progressos no sentido da abertura de negociações relativas a um acordo de associação e de estabilização com a União Europeia. A negociação desse acordo é algo que está ao alcance da Bósnia e Herzegovina, mas continuará a ser inatingível enquanto esses territórios não satisfizerem as condições relevantes, que incluem chegar a acordo sobre a reestruturação da polícia, proceder à reforma do sistema público de radiodifusão e demonstrar total cooperação com o Tribunal Penal Internacional para a ex-Jugoslávia.
Gostaríamos que a Bósnia e Herzegovina iniciassem negociações relativas ao Acordo de Associação e de Estabilização no semestre da nossa Presidência, até ao décimo aniversário do Acordo de Paz Dayton-Paris, mas isso exige que as autoridades da Bósnia façam mais progressos para ir ao encontro das prioridades estabelecidas no estudo de viabilidade.
Tentei sumariar hoje a situação actual no que se refere às nossas prioridades para os países dos Balcãs Ocidentais ao longo dos próximos seis meses. Esperam-nos, sem dúvida, grandes desafios, mas gostaria de terminar em tom optimista.
Nos últimos dez anos foram muitas as coisas que mudaram para melhor: realizaram-se eleições livres e justas em toda a região; as mudanças de governo através do voto fazem agora parte da rotina; já não existe ameaça de um conflito em grande escala; os países da região colaboram com vista a melhorar a vida dos respectivos cidadãos. A União Europeia e outros parceiros internacionais estão unidos no trabalho com a região para manter a estabilidade e criar prosperidade. Os dias negros do início da década de 1990 parecem ser, sobretudo, uma recordação distante. Mas agora que avançamos mais na via que conduz a uma maior integração entre os países dos Balcãs Ocidentais e a União Europeia, compete aos países interessados tornar irrefutáveis os seus processos.
Compreendemos que o compromisso assumido pela União Europeia para com estas regiões tem de ser honrado, e comprometemo-nos a que o seja. Mas durante este período de introspecção no seio da União Europeia e de incerteza acerca da sua forma e sentido futuros, é tanto mais importante que os países da região de que estamos a tratar cumpram os seus próprios compromissos, não no interesse da União Europeia - embora isso seja importante -, mas no interesse dos seus cidadãos, que sofreram demasiado tempo às mãos dos que afirmavam representar os seus interesses, mas na realidade só fomentavam hostilidade e conflitos.
A próxima semana - como o título deste debate reconhece - marca o décimo aniversário do massacre de Srebrenica, ocorrido em Julho de 1995. Entre sete e oito mil homens e mulheres muçulmanos foram mortos a sangue frio no pior acto de genocídio perpetrado na Europa desde 1945. Reconhecemos que a comunidade internacional só foi capaz de compreender o que se estava a passar quando já era demasiado tarde e não cumpriu o seu dever de proteger civis inocentes, homens, mulheres e crianças inermes. No entanto, sejam quais forem as faltas cometidas pela comunidade internacional por omissão, faltas que lamentamos profundamente neste momento de tristeza e recordação, não esqueçamos as faltas cometidas por acção pelas forças atacantes, as forças sérvias da Bósnia. Em última análise, a responsabilidade é daqueles que assassinaram, violaram e torturaram a sangue frio.
Como todos sabemos, alguns já foram julgados e considerados culpados pelo papel que desempenharam nessas atrocidades, outros foram ilibados. Mas os maiores responsáveis - Ratko Mladic e Radovan Karadzic - continuam em liberdade, porque fugiram à justiça. Dez anos passados sobre esse terrível acontecimento, é tempo, sem dúvida, de as autoridades da região - na Sérvia e no Montenegro, na Bósnia e Herzegovina e na Croácia - meterem mãos à obra e cumprirem as suas obrigações a nível internacional, ou seja, colaborarem cabalmente com o Tribunal Penal Internacional para a ex-Jugoslávia. Mas é também altura de honrarem as obrigações que têm para com
cidadãos de eliminar os obstáculos que ainda restam e que impedem que eles ocupem o lugar que legitimamente lhes pertence no seio da família europeia das nações. Apelo a todos os que estão em condições de fazerem a diferença para que trabalhem em conjunto, a fim de eliminarem este veneno da estrutura política, e entreguem todos os que foram acusados de crimes de guerra e continuam fugidos à justiça, para poderem ser presentes ao Tribunal de Haia.
Também é um privilégio, ao assumir neste momento a Presidência da União Europeia, deparar-me com tanta esperança e também com tanta oportunidade. A Croácia está à beira de iniciar negociações de adesão para se tornar membro de pleno direito da União Europeia, dez anos apenas depois do fim da guerra de 1995. Como o Conselho Europeu deixou claro em diversas ocasiões, é Zagrebe que tem a responsabilidade de derrubar o último obstáculo que ainda impede essas negociações: a não cooperação total, que continua a verificar-se, com o Tribunal Penal Internacional de Haia. Como Presidência da União Europeia, estamos prontos a iniciar negociações assim que o Conselho considerar que essa obrigação foi cumprida. É evidente que a maneira mais fácil de ultrapassar esse obstáculo será prender e entregar Ante Gotovina, que se encontra em fuga.
Se conseguíssemos encetar negociações de adesão durante a nossa Presidência, isso seria um sinal do nosso empenho relativamente a todos os países dos Balcãs Ocidentais e aos compromissos assumidos em Salónica de que todos eles são possíveis futuros candidatos. Mas a bola está indubitavelmente no campo de Zagrebe.
A Antiga República Jugoslava da Macedónia também fez muitos progressos desde o início do conflito étnico em 2001. Embora ainda haja trabalho a fazer para se chegar à plena execução dos termos do Acordo-Quadro de Ohrid, a Comissão vai publicar ainda este ano o seu parecer sobre o pedido de adesão daquela República à União Europeia, o qual foi apresentado no ano que passou. Tal como acontece com qualquer outro candidato, o pleno cumprimento dos critérios de Copenhaga é uma condição prévia. Aguardamos ansiosamente a oportunidade de ajudar as autoridades de Skopje a progredirem mais no que se refere aos termos do Acordo de Associação e de Estabilização, em especial no que respeita a fazer da corrupção e da criminalidade organizada os alvos da sua acção e a executar a reforma económica e judiciária.
A calendarização da abertura das negociações vai depender do empenhamento das autoridades em tratar destas questões, tanto por actos como por palavras. Na Albânia, parece que as recentes eleições decorreram num clima geralmente pacífico. Enquanto continua a decorrer a contagem dos votos, exortamos todas as forças políticas a respeitarem o processo eleitoral correcto e a resistirem à formulação de juízos prematuros sobre os resultados. Ainda assim, fazemos votos de que seja possível formar o mais rapidamente possível um novo governo, a fim de garantir que a Albânia possa continuar a avançar para um acordo de associação e de estabilização. A este respeito, o novo governo vai precisar de tentar resolver os problemas endémicos da corrupção e da criminalidade organizada e de executar a reforma judiciária, se quiser concretizar as suas aspirações europeias, que apoiamos inteiramente. Um dos maiores desafios com que nos confrontamos é, evidentemente, o Kosovo. Aproxima-se rapidamente o momento em que teremos de tratar da questão difícil e sensível do estatuto definitivo do Kosovo. Qualquer resultado a que se chegue tem de funcionar para todas as comunidades do Kosovo e tem de reforçar a estabilidade regional. Foi por isso que tanto o grupo de contacto como a União Europeia excluíram qualquer regresso ao
anterior a 1999 ou qualquer divisão interna do Kosovo. Nenhuma das duas opções serviria os interesses do povo do Kosovo ou da região.
Quanto à independência, é claramente uma opção. Mas gostaria de recordar aos que advogam a causa da independência que têm de convencer todas as comunidades e o mundo em geral de que a independência pode resultar e de que serão plenamente respeitados os direitos das minorias do Kosovo, bem como dos que ainda têm de regressar ao território depois da violência de 1999. Se os habitantes do Kosovo quiserem aderir ao conjunto europeu, têm de aprender a viver juntos como iguais, respeitando as diferenças existentes.
A actual revisão exaustiva das normas vigentes constitui, por isso, um desafio da maior importância. Essa revisão será mais ou menos positiva consoante os progressos registados no terreno. O seu resultado não é um dado adquirido. Reconheço que se têm feito verdadeiros progressos em matéria de execução de normas, mas é necessário fazer mais. Não demonstrar empenhamento na prossecução do trabalho em áreas fundamentais não augura um resultado positivo para essa revisão exaustiva. O futuro está, pois, nas mãos das autoridades do Kosovo, em Pristina. Entretanto, a União Europeia tem um papel importante a desempenhar no apoio a novos progressos, em especial na área do desenvolvimento económico."@pt17
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@sk18
"Mr President, I am delighted to be here at the European Parliament at the start of the British Presidency of the European Union. The next six months will be a critical time for many of the western Balkan states. As Minister for Europe, I am looking forward to pursuing the inherited agenda and working to help the countries of the region move further along the road to Europe.
Serbia and Montenegro have clearly made great strides in the last six months. In April, the European Commission concluded a positive feasibility study recommending that the European Union open negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Council of Ministers has accepted this recommendation and invited the Commission to prepare a negotiating mandate. This is an important step for Serbia and Montenegro’s progress towards European Union integration.
By 5 October, which marks the fifth anniversary of the democratic changes in Belgrade, or by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Accords in November at the latest, we would like Serbia and Montenegro to have begun negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement. But cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal must continue to improve and in this respect Mladic and Karadzic are key, all the more so in light of the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which we will commemorate next week.
I would also like to underline the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the interests of all the people of Kosovo. Only through participation in the democratic institutions of government can Kosovar Serbs ensure that their concerns are taken into account. We have welcomed Belgrade’s decision to encourage the Kosovar Serbs to participate in the decentralisation working groups and look to Belgrade to carry this through.
Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently made important progress towards the opening of negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union. This prize is within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s grasp but will remain out of reach until it has met the relevant conditions, which include agreeing on police restructuring, reforming public broadcasting and demonstrating full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
We would like Bosnia and Herzegovina to open SAA negotiations under our Presidency by the tenth anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement, but that requires further progress by the Bosnian authorities to meet the feasibility study priorities.
I have attempted today to summarise the present situation regarding our priorities for the Western Balkan countries over the next six months. There are certainly big challenges ahead, but let me end on a note of optimism.
In the last ten years so much has changed for the better: free and fair elections have been held throughout the region; changes of government via the ballot box are routine; large-scale conflict no longer threatens; countries of the region work together to improve the lives of their citizens. The European Union and other international partners are united in working with the region to maintain stability and create prosperity. The dark days of the early 1990s seem predominantly to be a distant memory. But as we move further down the road to closer integration between the western Balkan countries and the European Union, it is up to the countries concerned to make their cases irrefutable.
We understand that the European Union’s commitment to the regions has to be honoured and we undertake to do so. But during this time of introspection within the European Union and of uncertainty about its future shape and direction, it is all the more important that the countries of the region fulfil their own commitments, not in the interests of the European Union – although that is important – but for the sake of their people who for far too long suffered at the hands of those who claimed to represent their interests but who in fact only fomented hostility and strife.
Next week – as recognised by the title of this debate – marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Seven to eight thousand Muslim men and women were killed in cold blood in the worst act of genocide in Europe since 1945. We recognise that the international community failed to realise what was happening until it was too late and failed in its duty to protect innocent civilians, unarmed men, women and children. However, whatever the sins of omission of the international community, which we deeply regret at this time of sadness and remembrance, let us not forget the sins of commission by the attacking Bosnian Serb forces. The ultimate responsibility lies with those who murdered, raped and tortured in cold blood.
As we all know, some have already been tried and found guilty of their part in these atrocities, others have been acquitted. But those held most responsible – Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic – are still at large as fugitives from justice. Ten years on from this terrible event, it is surely time for the authorities in the region – in Serbia and Montenegro, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Croatia – to grasp the nettle and meet their international obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. But it is also time for them to honour their obligations to
people to remove the outstanding obstacles to them taking their rightful place within the European family of nations. I call upon all those in a position to make a difference to work together to remove this poison from the body politic, and to hand over all outstanding fugitives indicted for war crimes so that they may face justice in The Hague.
It is also a privilege, in taking over the European Union Presidency at this time, to be faced with so much hope and, indeed, opportunity. Croatia is on the cusp of opening accession negotiations to become a full member of the European Union, only ten years after the end of the war in 1995. As the European Council has made clear on a number of occasions, it is Zagreb’s responsibility to remove the one outstanding obstacle to these negotiations: the continuing failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. As the European Union Presidency, we stand ready to open negotiations as soon as the Council is satisfied that this obligation has been met. Clearly, the easiest way to overcome this obstacle would be to arrest and hand over the fugitive Ante Gotovina.
It would be a sign of our commitment to all the western Balkan countries and to the Thessaloniki commitments that they are all prospective candidates if we were able to open accession negotiations during our Presidency. But the ball lies firmly in Zagreb’s court.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also made much progress since the outbreak of ethnic conflict in 2001. Whilst there is still work to do to implement fully the terms of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, later this year the Commission will publish its opinion on the Republic’s application to join the European Union submitted last year. As with any other applicant, full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria is a precondition. We look forward to assisting the authorities in Skopje in making further progress on the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, especially in targeting corruption and organised crime and implementing economic and judicial reform.
The timing of opening negotiations will depend on the authorities’ commitment to tackling these issues in deed as well as in word. In Albania, it would appear that the recent elections passed in a generally peaceful manner. While the count continues, we urge all political forces to respect the due electoral process and resist premature judgements on the outcome. Nevertheless, we hope that a new government can be formed as soon as possible to ensure that Albania can continue her progress towards a stabilisation and association agreement. In this respect, the new government will need to tackle the endemic problems of corruption and organised crime and implement judicial reform if it is to fulfil its European aspirations which we fully support. One of the greatest challenges we face, of course, is Kosovo. The time is fast approaching when we should address the difficult and sensitive issue of Kosovo’s final status. Any outcome must work for all of Kosovo’s communities and reinforce regional stability. That is why the contact group and the European Union have both ruled out any return to the
ante-1999 or any internal partition of Kosovo. Neither would serve the interests of the people of Kosovo or the region.
As for independence, that is clearly one option. But I would remind those who advocate independence that they must convince all communities and the world at large that independence can work and that the rights of Kosovo’s minorities as well as those who have yet to return to Kosovo after the violence of 1999 will be fully respected. If the people of Kosovo wish to join the European mainstream, they must learn to live together as equals, respecting their differences.
The current comprehensive review of standards is therefore a critical challenge. How positive the review will be depends on progress on the ground. Its outcome is not a foregone conclusion. I recognise that there has been real progress with standards implementation, but more needs to be done. A failure to demonstrate commitment for further work in key areas would not bode well for a positive outcome to the comprehensive review. The future is therefore in the hands of the Kosovo authorities in Pristina. In the meantime, the European Union has an important role to play in supporting further progress, in particular in the area of economic development."@sl19
".
Herr talman! Det gläder mig att vara här i Europaparlamentet vid inledningen av det brittiska ordförandeskapet i Europeiska unionen. De kommande sex månaderna kommer att vara en tuff period för flera av de västra Balkanländerna. Som Europaminister ser jag fram emot att fullfölja den dagordning vi ärvt och att arbeta för att hjälpa länder från regionen att fortsätta på vägen mot Europa.
Serbien och Montenegro har uppenbarligen gjort stora framsteg de senaste sex månaderna. I april avslutade Europeiska kommissionen en positiv genomförbarhetsstudie som resulterade i en rekommendation om att Europeiska unionen skall inleda förhandlingar med Serbien och Montenegro om stabiliserings- och associeringsavtalet. Ministerrådet har antagit denna rekommendation och bjöd in kommissionen att förbereda ett förhandlingsmandat. Detta är ett viktigt steg för Serbien och Montenegros utveckling mot integration i Europeiska unionen.
Den 5 oktober, som markerar den femte årsdagen för de demokratiska förändringarna i Belgrad, eller senast i samband med den tionde årsdagen för fredsavtalen från Dayton och Paris i november, vill vi att Serbien och Montenegro skall ha inlett förhandlingar om ett stabiliserings- och associeringsavtal. Men samarbetet med internationella krigsförbrytartribunalen måste förbättras ytterligare, och i detta avseende är Ratko Mladić och Radovan Karadžić nyckelfigurer, inte desto mindre i ljuset av årsdagen av massakern i Srebrenica, som vi skall hedra minnet av nästa vecka.
Jag skulle också vilja betona vikten av dialog mellan Belgrad och Pristina, vilket är av intresse för alla befolkningsgrupper i Kosovo. Endast genom deltagande i regeringens demokratiska institutioner kan kosovoserber säkerställa att deras angelägenheter tas med i beräkningen. Vi har välkomnat Belgrads beslut att uppmuntra kosovoserber att delta i arbetsgrupperna för decentralisering och väntar oss att Belgrad skall slutföra detta.
Bosnien och Hercegovina har också nyligen gjort viktiga framsteg mot inledningen av förhandlingar om stabiliserings- och associeringsavtalet med Europeiska unionen. Belöningen ligger inom räckhåll för Bosnien och Hercegovina men kommer att vara utom räckhåll tills de har uppfyllt de relevanta villkoren, som innefattar en överenskommelse om omstrukturering av polisväsendet, reform av statliga radio- och TV-bolag och uppvisande av fullständigt samarbete med Internationella tribunalen för f.d. Jugoslavien.
Vi skulle vilja att Bosnien och Hercegovina inledde förhandlingar om stabiliserings- och associeringsavtalet under vårt ordförandeskap före den tionde årsdagen av fredsavtalet från Dayton och Paris, men det förutsätter att de bosniska myndigheterna har gjort ytterligare framsteg för att uppfylla prioriteringarna i genomförbarhetsstudien.
I dag har jag försökt att sammanfatta den nuvarande situationen i fråga om våra prioriteringar för länderna på västra Balkan under den kommande halvårsperioden. Vi har helt klart stora utmaningar framför oss, men låt mig avsluta med en optimistisk anmärkning.
Under de senaste tio åren är det mycket som har förändrats till det bättre, det vill säga fria och rättvisa val har hållits i hela regionen, regeringsbyten genom valurnan är rutin, storskaliga konflikter utgör inte längre ett hot och regionens länder samarbetar för att förbättra sina medborgares liv. Europeiska unionen och andra internationella parter är förenade i samarbete med regionen för att upprätthålla stabilitet och skapa välstånd. De dystra dagarna under det tidiga 1990-talet verkar huvudsakligen vara ett avlägset minne. Men då vi går vidare på vägen mot närmare integration mellan länderna på västra Balkan och Europeiska unionen är det upp till de berörda länderna att göra sina fall obestridliga.
Vi förstår att Europeiska unionens åtagande i regionen måste hedras, och vi är villiga att göra det. Men under denna tid av reflektion inom Europeiska unionen och av osäkerhet om dess framtida form och inriktning, är det ännu viktigare att länderna i regionen uppfyller sina egna åtaganden, inte för Europeiska unionens skull – fastän detta är viktigt – utan för sitt folks skull vars lidande alltför länge har legat i händerna på dem som påstod att de företrädde deras intressen, men som i verkligheten uppblåste fientlighet och missämja.
Nästa vecka – som titeln på denna debatt avslöjar – markerar tioårsdagen av massakern i Srebrenica i juli 1995. Mellan sju- och åttatusen muslimska män och kvinnor mördades kallblodigt i Europas värsta folkmord sedan 1945. Vi erkänner att världssamfundet misslyckades att inse vad som hände förrän det var för sent och misslyckades med sin uppgift att skydda oskyldiga civila, obeväpnade män, kvinnor och barn. Vilken än världssamfundets underlåtenhetssynd var, och som vi beklagar djupt vid denna sorge- och minnestidpunkt, får vi dock inte glömma de verksynder som de angripande bosnien-serbiska styrkorna gjorde sig skyldiga till. Det yttersta ansvaret bär dem som mördade, våldtog och torterade kallblodigt.
Som vi alla vet har några redan ställts inför rätta och förklarats skyldiga för sin delaktighet i dessa vidrigheter, medan andra har frikänts. Men de som betraktas som ytterst ansvariga – Ratko Mladić och Radovan Karadžić – befinner sig fortfarande på fri fot på flykt undan rättvisan. Tio år efter dessa hemska tilldragelser är det verkligen dags för myndigheterna i regionen – i Serbien och Montenegro, i Bosnien och Hercegovina, och i Kroatien – att ta tjuren vid hornen och uppfylla sina internationella förpliktelser och samarbeta till fullo med Internationella tribunalen för f.d. Jugoslavien. Men det är också dags för dem att uppfylla sina löften till folket och undanröja de återstående hindren för att de skall kunna inta sin rättmätiga plats inom den europeiska familjen av nationer. Jag uppmanar alla dem som är i stånd att genomföra förändringar att samarbeta för att avlägsna detta gift från statskroppen, och överlämna alla återstående förrymda personer som anklagas för krigsförbrytelser, så att de kan ställas inför rätta i Haag.
Det är dessutom ett privilegium att ta över ordförandeskapet för Europeiska unionen vid en tidpunkt som hyser så mycket hopp och möjligheter. Kroatien är på väg att inleda anslutningsförhandlingar för att bli fullvärdig medlem i Europeiska unionen, endast tio år efter krigets slut 1995. Såsom Europeiska rådet har klargjort vid ett flertal tillfällen är det Zagrebs skyldighet att undanröja det enda återstående hindret för dessa förhandlingar, nämligen det fortsatta misslyckandet att samarbeta fullt ut med internationella krigsförbrytartribunalen i Haag. I egenskap av Europeiska unionens ordförandeskap är vi beredda att inleda förhandlingar så fort rådet är övertygat om att dessa förpliktelser har fullgjorts. Uppenbarligen skulle det enklaste sättet att övervinna detta hinder vara att arrestera och överlämna den förrymde Ante Gotovina.
Det skulle vara ett tecken på vår plikt mot alla länder på västra Balkan och Thessalonikiåtagandena att de alla är framtida kandidater om vi lyckas inleda anslutningsförhandlingar under vårt ordförandeskap. Men bollen ligger orubbligt på Zagrebs planhalva.
F.d. jugoslaviska republiken Makedonien har också gjort stora framsteg sedan den etniska konflikten bröt ut 2001. Så länge det fortfarande finns arbete att utföra för att tillämpa Ohrid-ramavtalet fullt ut kommer kommissionen senare i år att avge sitt yttrande om republikens ansökan om att ansluta sig till Europeiska unionen, som överlämnades förra året. Liksom övriga sökanden är en fullständig efterlevnad av Köpenhamnskriterierna en förutsättning. Vi ser fram emot att stödja myndigheterna i Skopje för ytterligare framsteg när det gäller stabiliserings- och associeringsavtalet, särskilt när det gäller att ta itu med korruption och organiserad brottslighet och genomförande av ekonomiska och rättsliga reformer.
Tidsplaneringen av förhandlingarnas inledning kommer att bero på myndigheternas åtagande att lösa dessa frågor i handling såväl som i ord. I Albanien verkar det som valet nyligen genomfördes på ett i stort sett fredligt sätt. Så länge rösträkningen fortsätter vädjar vi till alla politiska krafter att respektera det vederbörliga valförfarandet och stå emot förhastade bedömningar av valresultatet. Vi hoppas trots allt att den nya regeringen kan bildas så fort som möjligt och säkerställa att Albanien kan fortsätta sin utveckling mot ett stabiliserings- och associeringsavtal. I detta hänseende kommer den nya regeringen att behöva lösa de inhemska problemen med korruption och organiserad brottslighet och genomföra rättsliga reformer om den skall kunna uppfylla sin europeiska strävan som vi stöder helhjärtat. En av de största utmaningarna som vi står inför är självfallet Kosovo. Den tidpunkt då vi måste ta itu med de svåra och känsliga frågorna om Kosovos slutliga status närmar sig snabbt. Vilket resultatet än blir måste det fungera för Kosovos alla befolkningsgrupper och förstärka regional stabilitet. Det är därför kontaktgruppen och Europeiska unionen har uteslutit såväl ett återgående till dödläget före 1999 som en inre uppdelning av Kosovo. Ingetdera skulle vara till gagn för Kosovos folk eller regionen.
Vad gäller självständighet är det uppenbarligen en valmöjlighet. Jag skulle dock vilja påminna dem som förespråkar självständighet att de måste övertyga alla befolkningsgrupper och världen i sin helhet att självständighet kan fungera och att de rättigheter som tillkommer Kosovos minoriteter, såväl som dem som ännu inte har återvänt till Kosovo efter våldet 1999, kommer att respekteras helt och hållet. Om Kosovos folk önskar ansluta sig till det europeiska samhällslivet måste de lära sig att leva tillsammans som jämbördiga och respektera sina olikheter.
Den nuvarande omfattande översynen av normer är därför en tuff utmaning. Hur positiv översynen kommer att vara beror på framstegen på plats. Resultatet av den är inte givet på förhand. Jag erkänner att det har gjorts stora framsteg när det gäller genomförandet av normer, men det återstår mer arbete. Ett misslyckande att visa prov på åtaganden för ytterligare arbete inom huvudområdena skulle inte båda väl för ett positivt resultat av den omfattande översynen. Därför ligger framtiden i händerna på Kosovos myndigheter i Pristina. Under tiden har Europeiska unionen en viktig roll att spela i att stödja ytterligare framsteg, särskilt på området för ekonomisk utveckling."@sv21
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