WRITTEN QUESTION P-3049/98

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(2 October 1998)

Subject: Kosovo refugees and the EU

In the event that the crisis in Kosovo becomes even more acute, has the Council drawn up any action plan specifying the measures to be taken to deal with the problems arising from an influx of more refugees, particularly into neighbouring countries, two of which are Member States?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-2681/98 and P-3049/98

(7/8 December 1998)

The Council is fully aware that the extremely violent offensive of the Serbian security forces against the "Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)" has led to a dramatic humanitarian situation. According to the latest data from UNHCR, there are over 250 000 refugees and internally displaced persons (40 000 in Montenegro, 15 000 in Albania, 2 000 in FYROM). The Council agrees that the prospect of a growing flow of refugees into Western Europe is a real one. While there has been a certain improvement in the humanitarian situation in Kosovo, following the cessation of hostilities and an increased international presence, the Council remains concerned by the situation of tens of thousands of people who may still be without permanent shelter as winter approaches. The EU will continue to deploy substantial resources to alleviate their plight.

The EU has adopted a two-pronged approach to the problem, addressing both its root cause and its humanitarian fall-out.

On the political level, the EU fully supports the agreements signed in Belgrade on 16 October 1998 between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the OSCE, and on 15 October 1998 between the FRY and NATO following the negotiations mandated by the Contact Group on the basis of the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, as an important step towards a political solution to the Kosovo crisis. It welcomed the adoption on 24 October of UN Security Council Resolution 1203, which confers the authority of the United Nations to the demand for full and immediate compliance by all parties concerned with these agreements, the unilateral commitments and Security Council Resolutions 1160 and 1199. The Council reiterates that there must be full and immediate compliance with Resolution 1203 by all parties concerned.

The Council would emphasise that cooperation with the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) is an integral part of compliance by the FRY with UN Security Council Resolution 1199. It therefore expects the authorities of the FRY to grant the ECMM unlimited access to the whole of the Republic's territory.

With regard to humanitarian assistance, the EU is making major efforts to help refugees and displaced persons, not only in Kosovo, but also in Albania. The EU's aim is to deal with the issue within the region, in order to lessen migratory pressure on EU Member States. Efforts undertaken in close collaboration with the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have concentrated on returning refugees and internally displaced persons to their villages in the framework of the "Kinkel-Védrine initiative". The EU Presidency has established humanitarian working parties in Belgrade and Geneva to improve coordination of and support for the efforts being made by the international community and the humanitarian organisations active in Kosovo for the return of refugees. The main problem, however, is still the lack of a secure environment for refugee return. At its meeting on 26 October 1998 the Council took note of the Presidency's ten-point Action Plan for the return of refugees and displaced persons, which was drawn up on the basis of the information prepared by the EU Special Envoy for Kosovo. The Commission also decided to supply emergency humanitarian aid, bringing to ECU 44 million the level of aid provided by the Community and Member States in 1998.

As far as preparations for the future are concerned, plans have already been made to support measures in the social and education areas intended to establish a climate of confidence and to strengthen civil society, including by means of Community support for the implementation of an agreement on teaching.

With regard to the EU Action Plan on the influx of migrants from Iraq and the neighbouring countries in the region, adopted by the Council on 26 January 1998, it should be remembered that, in accordance with Articles J.7 and K.6 of the Treaty on European Union, the Presidency of the Council submitted, for information, the text of the Action Plan to the European Parliament on 25 February 1998. Since the adoption of the Action Plan, the Council has regularly taken stock of its implementation. At the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 24 September 1998 it was stressed that the causes of possible refugee flows needed to be examined. It was also emphasised that a temporary common system on how to deal with the refugees already present in the Member States should be defined. The Council also highlighted the importance of arriving at a common political assessment of the situation in Kosovo, to ensure that examination of asylum applications from Kosovo Albanians was conducted in a more consistent way in the various Member States.