Strasbourg, 26/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - Adopting the report by the Ukrainian Serhiy Kurykin on the consequences of the war in Yugoslavia for the environment of South Eastern Europe, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly states its concern over the ecological consequences of military operations carried out in the FRY from 24 March to 5 June 1999. It underlines that: - all the countries of South Eastern Europe have been affected by the spread of pollutants in the atmosphere, in the water and the ground (it notably cites: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Macedonia and the Ukraine); - the effects on the health and quality of life are long-lasting; the future generations will also be affected, in particular by the destruction of industrial sites where substances were stored that are dangerous for health, as well as the use by NATO of munitions containing depleted uranium. In a comparison with military operations carried out in Bosnia and Chechnya, the Assembly asserts that the States which have taken part in the operations in the FRY have ignored international legal standards contained in Articles 55 and 56 of the 1977 protocol in the Geneva conventions that aim to limit the damage caused to the environment in case of an armed conflict. It calls for the standards to be strengthened and respected in the future.
The Assembly recommends to the Committee of Ministers to: - call for a ban on the manufacturing, testing, use and sale of arms containing depleted uranium or plutonium; - begin talks with the OSCE on the drafting of a convention on the prevention of environmental damage resulting from the use of military force; - to begin consultations with the EU over the drafting of a protocol in the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, in view of resolving the environmental problems in the region; - allocate resources to non-governmental organisation working in the region in view of rehabilitating the natural environment; - requiring from NATO and the UN a medical monitoring programme for the civil population in the Balkans, soldiers which have taken part in operations, members of humanitarian organisations and journalists who worked in the field.