Brussels, 08/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - "The EU has clearly expressed its expectations of the new leadership in Belgrade" declared the President-in-Office of the EU Council, Anna Lindh, at the end of the European Troika meeting with the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica. "To bring Yugoslavia fully back into Europe, there has to be a comprehensive reform programme", economic, legislative and political, the Swedish Foreign Minister stressed. The EU also "expressed its expectation of full cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia".
Javier Solana "promised" the Serbs that he would do his best to help the FRY seize the opportunity of "being part of the European family". For his first visit since the bombing of that country by NATO (of which he was Secretary General at the time), the EU's High Representative for external policy, was greeted Thursday morning by a demonstration of some 200 Serb nationalists shouting "Solana fascist" or "assassin of children in prison". The previous evening, 1,500 people had demonstrated (AFP). Javier Solana declared that he imagined "that it's normal that some people of this country don't like me. That is something that goes with my salary".