Zagreb, 24/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - "We now have the best chance in a generation of building peace that embraces this whole region. We must seize that chance, or history will never forgive us", said European Commission President Romano Prodi at the opening of the Zagreb Summit on 24 November between the European Union and the Balkan States, summit that marked reconciliation between the States of the region, the rapprochement of the latter to the European Union and the return of Belgrade to the international community. Now, Serbia too has joined the fold, Prodi observed, telling the Serbs: "It is you who have made clear that you want to draw a line under the past, and to move on (…) We kept faith with you. We deployed tens of thousands of European soldiers to help keep the peace. We have poured huge sums into rebuilding (…). Through our Stabilisation and Association process we have worked to associate the region more and more closely with European structures, recognising that each and every country of this region is a potential member of the European Union. We acknowledge, however, that every country is different". "I'm delighted to be going to Belgrade this evening, to see, especially with President Kostunica, how we can best contribute to long-term reconstruction and the setting up of new institutions in Serbia", Prodi added.
As for the High Representative of Cfsp, Javier Solana, he observed that during this short summit all the countries of the region were, for the first time, democracies, united in their desire to "assume their proper place in the European family of nations". "Who could have thought when the summit was first proposed by Presidents Chirac and Mesic that it would be quite so historic? It was a bold move", Solana remarked, stressing that the EU was engaged in favour of the "full integration" of the countries of the region in the "European family", but at the same time observing that the weight of the past was not completely forgotten (without actually mentioning the assassination of the political advisor to the moderate Albanian leader, Rugova, he spoke of the "latest events in Kosovo", saying that "those responsible for these criminal acts must not succeed"). "The list of tasks awaiting you is long, said Mr. Solana, referring to good neighbourliness, demilitarisation of the region, development of regional infrastructures, economic cooperation, cooperation against trans-national challenges - illegal immigration, organised crime, money laundering.
The European Commissioner responsible for external relations, Chris Patten, also stressed that the year 2000 "has been a much better one in the Balkans and South East Europe than any of us could have hoped for at the outset", citing foremost the "democratic revolution in Croatia", and, then, "the marvellously good news in Serbia a few weeks ago". "We told countries in the region that if they chose democracy, if they chose open economics, if they chose the rule of law, we would want to bring them closer to the European family. That is what we are doing with trade, with money, with political cooperation. And this Conference is putting the stamp on that process", he said.
As we mentioned (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.3), the Zagreb Summit was the occasion for the opening of negotiations over an EU/Croatia Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Croat Prime Minister Ivica Racan announced that Croatia would deposit its request in 2001 for membership of the European Union.
At the Summit, the Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic asked European leaders to consider recognising his Yugoslav republic as an independent State within a loose union with Serbia, and, while saying that he wanted to reach agreement with Belgrade on the subject and was ready to engage in "patient dialogue", he announced that he would call a referendum on independence between now and the middle of next year. The Serb President, Vojislav Kostunica, said on the same occasion that a "unilateral breakaway move" of Montenegro from the Fry would be "disastrous".