Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, I wish to recommend that the plenary adopt the proposal for a Council decision providing macro-financial assistance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the in the version originally put forward by the Commission. We know that there have been some discussions in budget areas of the Council which are aimed at introducing restrictions, but we take the view that at the present political time, it is right to approve the amounts originally envisaged in the proposal. There is an obvious reason for this: I think that having made it clear for so long that assistance would be available from the European Union if the people of Serbia and Montenegro threw off the yoke of dictatorship, we should keep our word. Particularly after the events of recent days, which have culminated in Milosevic’s extradition to the International Court Tribunal in The Hague, it is important that the European Parliament and the European Union signal that in response to these internal factors, the funds will be released, so that the people in a country like Yugoslavia can see that fostering democracy and human rights is genuinely worthwhile. For this reason, Commissioner, conditions should be created so that this can happen as quickly as possible, and I know that this is your intention too. This macro-financial assistance is not directly linked to a specific programme. It is an initial injection which is designed to help set things in motion. In this context, it should also be made clear that this assistance must not be tied to overly complicated conditions. We are proposing a number of amendments to you. These proposed amendments are designed to enhance control and also call for the involvement of other donors, although we do not view this as a condition. I believe that these are all positions which, ultimately, will not lead to obstacles and delay, but will enhance clarity, strengthen the control options, and also make it clear that we want assistance to be provided speedily. As you know, this House did not create any difficulties when it was a matter of applying for urgent assistance for this area. As I am sure you recall, through the participation of other committees too, such as the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, we signalled our willingness to proceed as quickly as possible and introduce the necessary amendments. Let me also make one general political point. In recent years, we have repeatedly engaged in grand theoretical debates about the developments in Yugoslavia. Yet in terms of our commitment, whether in the field of prevention and civil crisis management or, indeed, through threats and the use of military capabilities, we have generally acted too late. Our policy has always been ‘too little, too late’. This has led us into the situation which we have witnessed in recent days in Macedonia. This misguided approach, which ultimately forces us to make even greater sacrifices and provide even more assistance – because we failed to act in time, and because we could not implement the concept of prevention and civil crisis management due to the international community’s total fragmentation of responsibilities in this region – has resulted in major political failure in key areas. By providing these resources, we want to make it clear once again that this is not due to us, and that as the European Parliament, we are willing to do everything possible as quickly as possible. However, this is also an appeal to the Commission and the Council to make the necessary political decisions in a different way in future. I recall that two months ago, I was castigated and accused of being irresponsible when I spoke about the possibility of war in Macedonia. People ignore the facts for as long as they can, because they are too cowardly to tell the truth to the public at home. Afterwards, it all becomes far too expensive for everyone, and the costs again include human lives. For this reason, we call urgently once again for rapid assistance to be provided so that peace, democracy and human rights can be restored to this region.

Political group: PPE-DE