Brussels, 20/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - President of the EU Council, George Papandreou, declared at the end of Monday's Council, that the Balkans countries would be a "priority" at the Salonika Summit on 20-21 June. "It's a region in which we find the future members of the EU", he indicated, adding that among the Union Member States was a "very broad consensus on the need to grant more funding to the countries in the region" to help them progress towards the EU (the Presidency presented the Council with a "non-paper" in this connection). The Council has therefore called on the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) to study the possibility of obtaining additional funding.
The Council also adopted conclusions on:
1) Serbia and Montenegro: the Council welcomed the reorganisation of the Ministry of Defence, whose goal is to "ensure democratic and civil control on the armed forces". He also welcomed the recent election in Montenegro, of President Filip Vujanovic. The Council is calling on Serbia and Montenegro to finalise at their earliest convenience, the action plan on trade and the internal market in order to move forward in the process of stabilisation and association. While welcoming the transfer of Miroslav Radic to International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Council is insisting that Serbia an Montenegro cooperate more with the ICTY to allow for the handing over of other guilty parties, as well as documents and statements by witnesses;
2) Kosovo: the Council regrets the resolution adopted by the Kosovo Parliament on 15 May on the "war of liberation" (War Values). It believes that this resolution sows division and consequently does not respect the reconciliation process. The Council reaffirms its support for the policy of "the standards before the statute" as outlined by the Special Representative, Michael Steiner, as well as respect for Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council on Kosovo's status. It is calling on the Kosovo parliament and al the provisional institutions in the region to focus on these principles;
3) Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM): the Council points to the importance of an integral implementation of the Orhid framework agreement, based on principles of unity, multi-ethnicity, respect for territorial integrity and the inviolability of FYROM's borders as recognise by the international community. Welcoming the progress already achieved, the Council points out that respect for the calendar planned for the agreement is an essential condition for the country's rapprochement to the EU.