Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-202"
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"en.20090916.17.3-202"2
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"Madam President, President-in-Office, Commissioner, I too share Mr Weber’s security concerns, having spent ten years in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. This subject has a profoundly foreign policy dimension.
I am from a generation which grew up with hundreds of thousands of so-called Yugoslavian foreign workers. During the communist dictatorship, the people of southeast Europe living on the borders of Yugoslavia were free to travel, despite the communist dictatorship. Today we talk of Europeanisation, we send in troops and officials, we spend a great deal of money and, at the same time, we are imprisoning young people in these countries. That is why the liberalisation of this visa regime is urgently needed.
However, I too have a number of criticisms to make: firstly I am delighted that Macedonia is on board. Macedonia is exemplary in meeting the criteria, but we should not cite this to Macedonia as compensation for its justified wish to have a date finally set for accession negotiations.
Secondly, Kosovo: it has been said that it must abide by the rules of play, but a player can only abide by the rules of play if they are allowed on to the playing field. Kosovo has not been allowed on to the playing field. We intervened militarily, in order to liberate the Kosovars from oppression. Now the country of the former oppressors are to enjoy visa waiver – and I welcome this, because there is no collective guilt – and Kosovo cannot aspire to it. Even if there are shortcomings there, it is we who must beat our breasts, because we basically administer this country. In other words, we must give Kosovo every opportunity, because if Serbia enjoys visa waiver in the long run and Kosovo is absolutely excluded, that will lead to unacceptable distortions.
Thirdly, Bosnia and Herzegovina: I – like several Members – signed the protest against the exclusion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This land of three nations – badly designed under the Dayton Agreement, which is in dire need of review – with an international administration, which is equally guilty of inefficiency, must ultimately be given an opportunity to take the path to Europe, without being disintegrated. Disintegration for Kosovo or Bosnia would endanger our security more than any technical details."@en1
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