Mr President, I wanted to make a number of general comments today about what I would like to call ‘the political reconstruction of the Balkans region’. Mr Swoboda will say a little more, on behalf of my group, about what I would like to call ‘efforts to reconstruct the EU’, which is also the subject of the reports under discussion today, courtesy of Mr Lagendijk and Mr Westendorp, to whom I offer my compliments. In theory, we should be encouraged by the developments that have taken place in the Balkans over the past year. A great deal of headway has been made in the space of a year and the internal dynamics in a number of countries are at long last enhancing the role of the international community, even though the Kosovo crisis is still fresh in the memory. Kosovo is, and remains, a problem child. The local elections had a positive outcome. Of course it is ever thus when moderates win, but the internal situation remains tense, as borne out by the recent murder of four Roma who had returned to Kosovo after seeking asylum in Belgium. Naturally the all-important question is: what future does Kosovo have within Yugoslavia? We members reject any fanciful notions of an independent Kosovo. We are therefore looking forward with bated breath to the first meeting between President Kostunica and Mr Rugova. Perhaps the European Union could act as a mediator in this. However, we ought not to focus on Kosovo alone. By and large, things are moving in the right direction. I would call it a return to normality, all be it a gradual one. Last year belonged to true democracy, which was on the up and up, and to those politicians who eschew nationalism as the sole vehicle for politics. They have replaced three politicians who personified the worst aspects of former Yugoslavia in the nineties. I am referring to Tudjman, Milosevic and Izetbegovic. The government in Zagreb is helping us to think about the future of the region, and making real investments in democracy and stability. Tomorrow we are due to receive the new President of Yugoslavia in this House. As I see it, they are the new heroes of the Balkans and of course they are more than welcome. Croatia must soon be given the opportunity to strengthen its ties with the European Union. As far as I am concerned, apart from Slovenia it will be the first country from former Yugoslavia to qualify for EU membership in the future. What Serbia deserves most of all at this point in time is material aid, and the sooner the better. Europe must clearly demonstrate that its aid is making a difference, even before the parliamentary elections in Serbia. However, as far as I am concerned, this week’s star price goes to the leader of the Social Democrats in Bosnia, and, incidentally, to the people of Slovakia, for not falling into the referendum trap that the opposition set for the government, but that is another story. I read in some reports about the elections in Bosnia that the extreme nationalists have won at the parliamentary elections held in Bosnia Herzegovina. On the face of it, that appears to be true, particularly in the Republika Srpska and in the Croatian part. In the Bosnian part, the position of the nationalists has come under attack for the first time ever. In any event, the changes taking place in Croatia and Serbia are starting to have an effect on the situation there. The Social Democrats have done remarkably well there. There is nothing untoward about that in Europe, or even in the Balkans, but what is striking is that this party is multi-ethnic and openly defends this. At recent gatherings in Sarajevo, the leader of this party, Zlatko Lagumdzija, in the company of Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Albanians and other representatives from the region, introduced the concept of reconstruction of the spirit, thereby getting right to the heart of the matter. We must concentrate our energies in the physical reconstruction of former Yugoslavia, but this will only work if we manage to alter the people’s frame of mind too. Those politicians who openly work for such a cause deserve not only our admiration, but above all, our support. They alone can bring down the bastion of nationalism. The stability of the region will depend on the extent to which the new leaders are able to keep the lid on the national spirit and develop a different kind of mentality. Their political fate will also depend on how successfully the EU is able to deliver aid. The reports by Mr Westendorp and Mr Lagendijk provide the foundation we need for an efficient approach to the matter.

Political group: PSE