Article by EUHR Solana - Towards a European Kosovo

The commitment of the European Union in improving the situation in Kosovo has been uninterrupted over the last few years since the arrival in Kosovo of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). We have made the largest contribution to KFOR and to the OSCE-led activities in institution building, as well as the largest financial contribution to humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. The EU is also leading the international efforts towards economic development. The European Union continues to be strongly engaged in all efforts to fully implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and to support the work of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Harri Holkeri, particularly the policy of "Standards before status".

The Thessaloniki EU-Balkans Summit in June 2003, in which Kosovo was also present with its own representatives, reaffirmed our view that Kosovo is an integral part of the European perspective of the Balkans. Our objective is to help consolidating the local democratic structures, contribute to improving education and healthcare and promoting economic development. We want to help the Kosovo people to build a peaceful, multi-ethnic, democratic and prosperous Kosovo.

I understand the concern about the future status of Kosovo but I would like to reassure you that whatever the future final status, Kosovo will not go back to the past. What is important today is that the open question of the final status should not distract us from our work to build a democratic and prosperous society in Kosovo, a society in which all communities learn to live together side by side in peace and security.

The prospects and the speed for further progress in Kosovo depend on building a productive partnership between the international community and the Kosovo people. In this regard, strengthening the partnership between UNMIK and the Provisional Institution of Self-Government in Kosovo is a major priority. Further enhancing the involvement of the Kosovo people in the management of their own society is a major challenge ahead.

Dialogue is an essential part of the road to further progress and normalisation in Kosovo. It is a European value and it has been a central factor in the history of the European integration. This is the only way to create the conditions for a peaceful settlement of the future status and for Kosovo to come closer to the European Union.

The meeting that took place in Vienna on 14 October 2003 with a view to bringing together in direct talks the two sides was of symbolic importance for Kosovo and the Balkans. It illustrated the willingness to overcome the past through constructive attitudes. I consider the Vienna meeting a very important one indeed, since this was the first time that the two parties sat at the same table since the end of the hostilities in 1999.

I regret that some of the key interlocutors chose not to attend, but this meeting was only the beginning and I hope that it will be followed soon by concrete steps, such as direct talks on practical issues of mutual interest: energy, transport, the fate of missing and internally displaced people and refugees. This will contribute to further progress and to the normalisation in Kosovo and in the region. Dialogue is also a fundamental element of the "Standards before Status" policy, which the European Union and the international community as a whole fully supports.

I expect that both sides will engage seriously and constructively in dialogue and establish soon technical working groups in the areas that they have identified. The European Union stands ready to assist and facilitate this process and we believe that, together with the support and engagement of the US and the rest of our international partners, we shall soon see concrete positive results which could improve the life in Kosovo and in the region.

The European Union will continue to help Kosovo for as long as it is needed. The ultimate responsibility for progress, however, continues to lie with the people of Kosovo. Our partnership is a guarantee of success.

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