Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I only want to express an opinion on a part of this Budget, namely that relating to Serbia. The elections in Yugoslavia have shown two things: that the people have finally had enough of the dictator Milosevic and that they have confidence in Professor Kostunica. The challenge faced by the new President is, at the same time, a challenge to us Europeans. The process of democratisation has only just begun. The retreat of the old Serbian government and the formation of a transitional cabinet of experts, as well as the election of the new Serbian parliament on 23 December of this year, are important prerequisites for replacing the old -communist nomenclature in the Republic of Serbia, just as it has already been replaced in Montenegro, and for opening the door to democratic changes. Important institutional decisions have already been made in the last ten days. The independence of the Yugoslav national bank has been secured. The customs administration has finally ceased to be an instrument of corruption. It is now also important that the trade sanctions should be lifted by the EU as quickly as possible. Commissioner Patten, who is in Belgrade today, ought to endorse the proposal made by those who exercise responsibility in that country, to the effect that all trade sanctions should be lifted and that firms associated with war criminals should be blacklisted. In order to safeguard the success of the democratic forces in the elections, as well as Kostunica’s initial successes, we must do something. The Yugoslav economy is completely ruined. Our fellow MEP, Mr Modrow is no longer here, but he should be listening. The economy has, in the very first place, been ruined because of incredible mismanagement on the part of Milosevic and his wife Markovic, who was, and is, also chairman of the Communist Party and to all intents and purposes the head of a large mafia. In the second place, it has been ruined by the sanctions imposed upon the country because of Milosevic and, to a small degree, by the NATO bombings. It is incredible that a country which formerly exported food can now no longer feed its people. Winter is coming, and there is a shortage of gas, oil and heating equipment. The fact that, following Kostunica’s election, the Serbian parliament immediately lifted the restrictions upon prices which had until then been frozen, led to a price explosion, which might cause people to misunderstand the policy pursued by Kostunica who, however, had no influence at all upon this decision. Political stability depends upon the improvement of living conditions. To put it simply: the people of Serbia ought neither to freeze nor to go hungry this winter. That is why I most particularly welcome the fact that our fellow MEPs from the Committee on Budgets have made every effort to provide the emergency aid of EUR 200 million for this year, Mr Modrow, and not for next year, there still being two and a half months of this year . With these funds, we could show that Europe is the real partner in this region. The latest elections contributed a further 80 municipalities to our democratic contacts at local level, so that we have a sufficient number of intermediaries at this level too. Those responsible for politics and the economy in Serbia emphasise again and again that they do not wish to become dependent upon our help, but that they need our help now in order to alleviate need in the short term and that they will then need help to help themselves introduce a social market economy in the medium and long term and in order also to make necessary foreign investment possible. I was very pleased today to hear Professor Kostunica officially acknowledge as crimes his predecessor’s actions against the Albanians and accept responsibility for these. I am sure that the Albanian political prisoners will also be released soon. Professor Kostunica deserves our support. I am also sure that this Parliament will concur with this judgement of mine when he has spoken before us in this Chamber on 15 November. The fact that it has today, at the same time, been decided to give EUR 175 million to poverty-stricken Kosovo shows that we do not forget the old challenges when new ones arise. I very much hope that in the debate on the CARDS programme, which of course covers our financial commitment to all these countries, we show the same level of commitment and give each country its due. If south-eastern Europe is to be a stable region, then individual States need to be stable, too.

Political group: PPE-DE