WRITTEN QUESTION No. 535/98 by Raymonde DURY to the Council. Cultural repression of the Albanian-speaking peoples' right to education in a mother tongue
Date: 1998-02-27
Institutions: DURY, European Parliament
Subjects: Albania, Commission Delegation, Kosovo, ethnic discrimination, ethnic group, human rights, mother tongue, right to education, university

9. 10. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 310/79

(98/C 310/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0535/98

by Raymonde Dury (PSE) to the Council

(27 February 1998)

Subject: Cultural repression of the Albanian-speaking peoples(cid:146) right to education in a mother tongue

We hear with growing concern of the worsening persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, due to the Serbian
policy of (cid:145)Ethnic Cleansing(cid:146).

This question highlights the repression in the educational sphere. A Serb police occupation of the University of
Prishtina, which has now continued for 7 years, has forced the ethnic Albanians out of the university buildings.
Albanians attempt to continue with clandestine teaching, yet teachers are beaten when discovered holding classes
in  their  mother  tongue.  Peaceful  protests  are  violently  quashed  by  the  Serb  police  and  80%  of  University
buildings stand empty.

Could the Council specify:

How it intends to apply diplomatic pressure in reaction to Serbian policy, which contravenes international

1.
law guaranteeing the fundamental human right to education in mother tongues?

2. Why the decision to set up a European representative in Kosovo, agreed several months ago, has still not
been implemented?

3.
Any further measures it may intend to put in motion to restore democratic and civil freedoms, or pressure it
may bring to bear upon Milosevic, in particular concerning the Serbian failure to implement the (cid:145)Educational
Agreement(cid:146) of 1996, signed between Presiding Rugova and Milosevic to ease tensions, as a previous response to
international pressure regarding economic sanctions.

Answer

(16-17 June 1998)

1.
Throughout the past months, the concern of the Honourable Member of Parliament about the deteriorating
situation  in  Kosovo  has  been  also  that  of  the  Council,  which  has  devoted  much  of  its  attention  to  it  and,
specifically,  to  the  implementation  of  the  Education  Agreement  signed  between  the  Federal  Republic  of
Yugoslavia (FRY) and the Kosovar Albanian leadership in 1996.

Dissatisfaction with FRY policy in the field of human rights and respect for democratic standards prompted
2.
the  decision,  taken  by  the  Council  in  December  1997,  to  withdraw  the  Autonomous  Trade  Measures  it  had
granted the FRY on 29 April 1997. The Council has repeatedly confirmed its firm and unequivocal stance in
favour of a large degree of autonomy for the region concerned, which entails a full reinstatement of the right of
ethnic  Kosovar  Albanians  to  education  in  their  mother  tongue.  On  19  March  1998,  the  Council  appointed
Mr Felipe Gonzalez as EU Special Representative for the FRY, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the
EU(cid:146)s contribution to the resolution of problems in the FRY.

3.
The issue of an EU office in Pristina has been taken up several times in the past by the EU with the FRY
authorities, which have still to respond to the EU request. There is however a growing EU presence in Pristina.
ECHO has established a permanent presence in the Kosovar capital, as has the European Community Monitor
Mission (ECMM), which has re-deployed to that city two observers previously stationed in Podgorica. The issue
of a permanent EU presence in Pristina is still under discussion.

4.
Firm diplomatic pressure by the EU, in conjunction with that exerted by the other international actors in the
Kosovo  crisis,  has  induced  the  Serbian  authorities  to  sign  with  the  Kosovar  Albanian  leadership,  on
23 March 1998, an agreement implementing the 1996 Education Agreement. Throughout the process, the EU has
strongly supported the efforts of the St. Egidio Community, which has remained in close contact with the EU
Presidency  and  Member  States.  The  EU  has  already  declared  that  it  is  willing  to  substantially  support
implementation  of  the  agreement;  the  Presidency  and  the  Commission  have  undertaken  a  joint  mission  to
Belgrade  and  Pristina  on  31  March  and  1  April  1998,  to  liaise  directly  with  Monsignor  Paglia  and  the  local
authorities in order to examine how best the EU can support the Agreement.