Home > Parliamentary question by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council and reply
Parliamentary question by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council and reply
Parliamentary questions
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1947/99
by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council
(4 November 1999)
Subject: Kosovo
An increasing number of voices are coming out in favour of independence for Kosovo, particularly, but not only, including those of well-known US politicians. At the same time, in Europe we are seeing, on the one hand, a "legalistic" offensive reaffirming the concept of the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and, on the other, policy being implemented on the ground in a way which is obliged to take account of the new reality of the situation in Kosovo.
Does the Council agree that this ambivalent approach on the part of Europe risks ultimately undermining the issue of determining the final status of Kosovo?
Does the Council agree that the Union should swiftly put forward a political approach to resolving the issue of the final status of Kosovo? Does it agree that such an approach should differ both from the ambivalent positions seen, with the risks which these pose in the medium term, and from positions favouring independence, which would only further increase the fragmentation of the Balkans, by proposing right now the reunification of Kosovo and Albania?
Irrespective of the adoption of such an approach, is the Council ready to allocate a substantial part of the resources under the reconstruction programme to building new communication routes and improving existing routes between Albania and Kosovo?
E-1947/99
Reply
(31 January 2000)
EU policy on Kosovo is firmly based on the full implementation of UNSCR 1244 in all its parts and by all parties involved. Therefore, the Council does not see the EU's approach as being ambivalent. Rumours about the "inevitability of independence for Kosovo" are counter-productive and are firmly rejected by the Council, which continues to uphold the principle of the territorial integrity of the FRY.
Just recently, all participants in the Stability Pact in which the EU plays a leading role solemnly reaffirmed their commitment inter alia to all the principles and norms enshrined in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris and the 1990 Copenhagen document.
The Council would like to inform the Honourable Member that the question of building new communication routes in South Eastern Europe is also on the agenda of the Stability Pact's Working Table on economic reconstruction, development and cooperation. At the inaugural meeting of that Working Table in Bari on 9 October, several countries of the region and the EIB have tabled infrastructure projects, the feasibility and financing of which are currently being assessed.
