WRITTEN QUESTION E-3549/01

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(7 January 2002)

Subject: Common Foreign and Security Policy and southern Serbia

At the end of 2000, there was a big increase in tension between Albanians and Serbs in and around the towns of Bujanovac, Medveda and Preevo, resulting in ethnic cleansing and mass refugee movements. Thanks to the efforts of the international community, it was possible to prevent the conflict from escalating by means of a negotiated agreement.

In connection with my latest working visit to Kosovo and Macedonia at the end of November I met a large delegation of Albanians from southern Serbia who complained that the promised aid to reconstruction in the region had failed to materialise.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. How much humanitarian aid has been allocated to Serbia via ECHO in recent years?

2. How much of this aid was intended for the three Albanian towns Bujanovac, Medveda and Preevo?

3. Can the Commission provide an overview of how the NGOs which it helps to fund are represented in the above towns and what work they have done?

4. What has the European Agency for Reconstruction done in the region?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2002)

The total amount of Community humanitarian aid allocated to the entire Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) since 1991 amounts to 428 685 000. For the early part of this period, allocations were not specifically divided between the parts of the FRY so it is not possible to distinguish, the amount specifically allocated for the Republic of Serbia. For 2001, however, the amount of assistance allocated to the Republic of Serbia was 47,8 million.

Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) actions in the Presevo Valley (Presevo, Bujanovac, Medvedja) form part of a countrywide programme targeting refugees, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable individuals. In this context, it is important to point out that Bujanovac, Medvedja and Presevo are not specifically singled out for assistance. Eligibility, as for any other area, is based on an assessment of needs.

ECHO's countrywide programme has a broad-based approach to providing assistance, using a network of partner organisations. Basic needs are covered in the fields of: shelter, health, social and psychosocial assistance, heating, food, repatriation and legal assistance for refugees from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A detailed list of ECHO's partners and of the projects implemented in 2001 in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament's Secretariat.

Large amounts of non-humanitarian EC assistance have also been provided to Southern Serbia, under the CARDS programme, implemented by the European Agency for Reconstruction. Some of this CARDS assistance as described in more detail in the accompanying annex has been specifically in support of political efforts. However, EC assistance to this particular region must also be seen in the wider context of EC assistance to the entire Republic of Serbia and to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a whole. Since the democratic changes in October 2000, 1,18 billion of EC reconstruction, economic and technical assistance has been given to the FRY as a whole.