Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-04-Speech-3-045"
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"en.20080604.15.3-045"2
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"Mr President, High Representative, Commissioner, firstly I would like to congratulate Mr Saryusz-Wolski and Mr Kuhne on their comprehensive reports; they have done some outstanding work. One of the most important findings of Mr Saryusz-Wolski’s report is that the stability of the Western Balkans is the European Union’s number-one priority today. I completely agree with this.
In the case of Kosovo, what is at stake is no less than the credibility of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The antecedents are not too encouraging: although all the Member States have supported the Ahtisaari plan, they have still not agreed on whether to recognise Kosovo. But an even greater problem is the fact that there is also still no agreement on whether UNMIK’s powers should be handed over to EULEX. But if this does not happen, the European Union cannot fulfil its own pledges, and this undermines its credibility. Very important tasks for the EULEX mission are the creation of constitutionality, the introduction of a functioning market economy, the reinforcement of Kosovo’s multi-racial nature, and the building of trust between the peoples living there.
The European Union cannot leave Kosovo to its own devices. Our policy for the Western Balkans must rest on three pillars. Firstly, we must offer those countries a credible European perspective, we must examine the conditions strictly and we must bear witness to consistency. It would be a great mistake if we momentarily failed to give the conditions political consideration or if we inconsistently offered concessions to countries that do not cooperate with us – concessions that we do not give to those that do cooperate. These things will certainly continue to threaten the credibility of the European Union.
The European Union wants to play a global role, and rightly so, but this will just be wishful thinking until it is capable of guaranteeing the possibility of peace, stability and progress in its own immediate vicinity. Thank you."@en1
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