Brussels, 28/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - Last Monday the Council of General Affairs appointed the former French Minister for Defence, François Léotard, as European Union Representative for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He arrived in Skopje on 28 June for a four-month term (see EUROPE 25/26 June page 4).
Mr Léotard will be acting under the authority of Javier Solana, the CFSP High Representative. In an interview with Le Figaro, Mr Léotard explained that he met, in Brussels, the main NATO and EU officials. "My mandate stipulates that I should work, on behalf of the EU, with all the organisations on the ground including, of course, NATO. I hope to work with NATO in an open, transparent and responsible manner. (...) One of my first duties is to widen the cease-fire. A political dialogue cannot be held if it is based on violence. The cease-fire should be extended to the whole of the country", he declared.
In a European radio interview the new EU Representative in Macedonia, François Léotard, added to the confusion by recommending negotiations should be held with the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force. "We should discuss with the guerrilla, at any rate they (i.e. the Macedonian leaders) should discuss with them), he said on EUROPE 1. Several hours later, he nonetheless affirmed that the "EU's position has not changed and that ethnic Albanian guerrilla has no place in political dialogue" and that it should include only representatives from the legitimate political parties.