WRITTEN QUESTION P-1386/01

by Guido Podestà (PPE-DE) to the Council

(7 May 2001)

Subject: Escalation of violence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The spiral of violence which has been triggered in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by Albanian extremists is jeopardising the stability of the country, to the extent that there is talk of a new powder keg in the Balkans. The fears unleashed by the Albanian minority's demands are linked not so much to the call for autonomy as to the creation of a Greater Albania which would lead to the outbreak of a further conflict in the Balkans.

In both social and economic terms, FYROM has suffered greatly as a consequence of the war in Serbia and has taken in many Albanian refugees from Kosovo.

The recent signing by Macedonia and the EU of a stability and association agreement is a reaffirmation of the EU's support for Macedonia as it gradually aligns itself with the Union.

What steps is the Council planning to take in order to make Macedonia's borders more secure and to prevent the infiltration of Albanian weapons and guerrilla fighters?

What action does the EU intend to take in association with its international partners in order to remedy this state of affairs before it degenerates?

Is the Council thinking of calling on the UN Security Council to issue an additional mandate to K-FOR in Macedonia, so that the security forces are not required to restrict their activities to border checks but may be allowed to intervene under the mandate which may be conferred upon them and in line with what the European Parliament's President Nicole Fontaine called for in her opening speech at the Stockholm European Council?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council is seriously concerned about the level of tension and violence - which the EU has repeatedly condemned in the firmest terms - in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These incidents are a dangerous provocation from ethnic Albanian extremists aimed at drawing the government of FYROM into the spiral of a full-scale conflict.

But there is also better news and room for hope: the Secretary-General/High Representative, Mr Javier Solana, through his strong personal commitment and numerous visits to the country since the beginning of the crisis, was instrumental in getting the interethnic dialogue under way, within the all party Europe Committee; on 13 May a Government of national unity, including main ethnic Albanian political parties, was finally formed, which was warmly welcomed by the Council as an important step towards closer cooperation between different ethnic communities in the country. The signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with FYROM on 9 April has been a powerful lever in the hands of the EU, and the agreement will remain an important instrument for engaging the FYROM government.

The EU has clearly stressed the need for the new government to produce quickly concrete results, particularly on issues related to the situation of minorities (i.e. new TV Channel in Albanian language, progress on the Albanian language South East Europe University in Tetovo, early reconstruction of building damaged by armed clashes etc). The European Union will support FYROM's efforts to this end. The EU feels that the delivery of early concrete results is vital in order to keep the political process going, to isolate extremists and to bring FYROM closer to Europe.

The EU message was clearly spelled out by the EU Ministerial Troika, which visited Skopje on 16 May 2001, to all its interlocutors.