Little less than a year ago there were hundreds of thousands of refugees in the neighbouring countries and sheltering in the mountains of Kosovo. We stood on the verge of a humanitarian disaster. But within weeks they were back home. They have all been properly fed and housed and kept warm through the winter. We have made possible the urgent repair of a large number of homes and the emergency repair of transport and power infrastructure.
Problems certainly remain.
It is too easy for some to look back to the horrors and injustices of the past and to reject reconciliation and the opportunities for a multi-ethnic future. We must do everything we can to deepen the commitment to peace and permanent reconciliation. We must break the cycle of violence, hunting down the extremists and the trouble makers and putting in place a fully effective police and justice system. We must achieve Serbian participation in the interim administration, prepare for municipal elections and consolidate the development of a market economy. The experience of the Balkans has been a sobering one for the European Union.