Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-246"
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"en.20050413.19.3-246"2
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"Mr President, contrary to what these documents claim, Croatia does not belong to the Western Balkans. It is a Central European country, and the only one, apart from Switzerland and Liechtenstein, that does not yet belong to the EU. Given that it meets the criteria, we should open negotiations with it at once.
In the real Balkans, however, there is still more than enough to do. A constitutional reform must take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to transform it into a strong federation of three nations with equal rights, and Lord Ashdown’s dictatorship must be brought to an end. Before the end of the year, Kosovo must be presented with a clear roadmap to independence, albeit with conditions attached. Any other approach would be devoid of any basis in reality.
Serbia and Montenegro must allow thorough monitoring of their compliance with human rights. In this respect, I am somewhat concerned that the decision taken this week by the Commission rested rather too much on misapprehensions.
As far as Macedonia is concerned, the name issue must finally be settled, and, much as I respect the Greek Members, I would call on them to abandon their narrow-minded way of thinking on this matter. In Germany, Franconia is a part of Bavaria, and we also have Frankfurt, yet no one would ever suggest that France must instead start calling itself the Republic of Paris, because it might otherwise make territorial claims to Frankfurt or Franconia. We are in the 21st century now, and there is no longer any place for such nonsense.
We must make it clear exactly where the EU’s boundaries lie. Mr Langen belongs to the ranks of those who repeatedly point out that the EU would be overstretching itself if it allowed Turkey to join, yet South East Europe is quite clearly European. We must focus our energies on stabilising South East Europe and Croatia, which is a Central European country that has as little reason to be called part of the Balkans as does the beautiful Bohemian town of Kaden an der Eger, or as do Munich or Altenkirchen in Siegerland. Croatia belongs to Central Europe, and it must be integrated into Europe. This would also stabilise the neighbouring Balkans."@en1
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