Strasbourg, 14/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The ad hoc delegation from the European Parliament which went, last week, to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with at its head the President of the Delegation for relations with South Eastern Europe, the CDU member Doris Pack, to verify on the ground who the European Union aid is being used, met President Kostunica, members of the government and the federal and Serb parliaments, and also representatives from local authorities - which are taking part in the Union programme "Schools for democracy", "Energy for democracy" and "Cities for democracy" - and the World Bank.
During a press conference on the sidelines of the plenary session in Strasbourg, Mrs Pack indicated that the programmes by the European Agency for Reconstruction, which are a part of the emergency aid package of EUR 200 million, are functioning properly in Serbia: this amount is already nearly entirely used up. It will now require moving (even if emergency aid is still necessary) to the new phase of aid which will concentrate on economic development, the reconstruction and institutional reforms. This aid is submitted to conditions: reinforcing of democracy, respect for law, institutional reform. The new leadership confirmed to use its desire and ability to answer this request for democratisation: a first step in this field is represented by the introduction of draft laws on amnesties for political prisoners (the Milosevic prisoners cannot be the prisoners of Kostunica, said Mrs Pack), the media and the local government. With regards to the former President Milosevic, Mrs Pack repeated that "he must got to the Court in the Hague", but felt that we could accept that he is first tired in Belgrade for crimes he committed against his own people, so as not to arrive in the Hague as a victim or hero. When it is a case of finding in Belgrade judges for war crimes, a problem presents itself, asserted Mrs Pack, while noting that most of the judges are linked to the regime.
The ad hoc delegation also expressed its concern over the security in Southern Serbia, where acts of violence by Albanian extremists does not simplify the situation, said Mrs Pack.