EP - Western Balkans still a cause for concern

Seriously concerned at the economic and social situation in the Western Balkans, Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee is calling on the EU to adopt a clearer strategy for the Balkans and provide a step-by-step integration agenda. In a draft resolution adopted unanimously on Wednesday, MEPs also called on the Western Balkan countries themselves to coordinate their regional infrastructure better. And they stressed that these countries could facilitate EU integration more by fulfilling certain conditions, such as cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal on Yugoslavia in The Hague, favouring the return of refugees, actively fighting corruption and organised crime and respecting human and minority rights.

As regards Bosnia-Herzegovina, MEPs were worried about the continuing serious political problems and the country's precarious stability. They called for a quick handover of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to the Hague tribunal. Turning to Serbia and Montenegro, MEPs said that the next two years will be crucial for finding a mutually satisfactory solution to problems with the State Union. They also recognised that future decisions on the status of Kosovo will have political implications for Serbia, for which reason Belgrade and Priština should engage in a cooperative dialogue. In that respect, they referred to the upcoming review of the Kosovo "standards" - the state of the rule of law, the return of refugees, property rights, a functioning economy - which may lead to opening discussions on the status of Kosovo.

Albania caused MEPs concern as regards its political climate, its administrative capacity, the need to fight corruption and organised crime and to improve the judicial system, respect for minorities, such as the Greek community, and the economy. The failure of the referendum in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on a territorial division of the country would seem to have paved the way for reconciliation between the two main ethnic groups. Efforts to decentralise should be backed up by EU support programmes, says the resolution.

MEPs said they were looking forward to the opening of accession negotiations with Croatia, but that the date of accession should not be linked to that of any other country. Croatia should cooperate fully with the tribunal in The Hague, settle its border disputes with Slovenia, make greater efforts to facilitate the return of refugees and guarantee fair and effective domestic war-crime trials.

02.02.2005 Committee on Foreign Affairs
In the chair: Elmar BROK (EPP-ED, DE)

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