Brussels, 07/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - A conference of donor countries for Macedonia is expected to be held in Brussels on 10 October and the aid promised by the EU should arrive as soon as possible, as long as the ceasefire and the reform process continue. Javier Solana and Chris Patten announced the conference during their visit to Skopje on Thursday and Friday. The vote of the Macedonian Parliament on reforming the Constitution, the EU's aid and a continuation of the foreign presence in the country (one of NATO's "essential missions") were the main areas of discussion during this visit, intended to re-affirm the EU's support. These issues will be summarised for Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting informally in Genval, who will discuss it at Saturday lunchtime.
In Skopje, the EU's High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, welcomed the historic step taken by the Macedonian parliament on Thursday which, he said, drew the Macedonian people closer to sustainable peace and stability. All parties should now move rapidly to apply the other parts of the framework agreement signed on 13 August, insisted Mr Solana, adding that while Constitutional reform had been agreed in principle, the document itself still had to be voted on. When she got back to Skopje, Mr Solana's spokeswoman insisted that deadlines had to be abided by and no attempt should be made to alter the text. On Thursday, the Macedonian parliament voted by a huge majority (91 to 19 with 2 abstentions) to accept the principle of constitutional reform. After the vote, NATO continued its weapon harvesting operation on Friday, as planned.
Javier Solana will also inform the Foreign Affairs Ministers about what the different sides in the Macedonian conflict are expecting from the international community after NATO's weapon collection operation, which is scheduled to conclude at the end of the month. It appears that the Macedonians would like the UN to replace NATO, but the Albanian guerrillas would prefer NATO's mandate to be extended. The EU has not expressed any preferences and negotiations are continuing over the observers and how to protect them, but the rejection of the EU emissary François Léotard's idea about commiting a European force seems quite clear. Diplomatic sources stress that the proposal to send a European force of 1500 men was Mr Léotard's own suggestion and was not the European Union's idea. Sources suggest that his idea slightly outstripped the real situation in the EU, particularly in terms of the institutions. The 60,000 strong European Rapid Reaction Force should be operational in 2003 but Europe had to be ready by the end of this year to deal with crisis management missions on a case by case basis, the EU's Defence Ministers have been insisting since May. The same diplomatic sources suggested that the discussions at Genval would concentrate first and foremost on the European Union's general coordination role, the description of tasks and assessing the needs that will become clear after the Essential Harvest Mission.