FROM THE MEDIA

Chris Patten

No. 50/04
March 30, 2004

PATTEN: KOSOVO’S FUTURE LIES IN EUROPE

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, speaking to the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, condemned the recent violence in Kosovo and called on the political leadership in Belgrade and Pristina to refrain from making provocative statements. He also said that discussions about the final status of Kosovo should not be postponed indefinitely but are "for another day." "Whatever Kosovo’s final status, its future lies in Europe."

“I am very glad to have the opportunity to talk to you today about Kosovo. Last week Javier Solana and I went there because of our concern about the recent upsurge in violence. A very large number of homes were destroyed, together with schools, medical facilities and a large number of churches. Latest reports suggest that 22 people were killed and more than 850 injured, including police and KFOR members. There is little doubt that although there may have been an initial trigger for the violence, it quickly became organized. I also have no doubt that elements within the main Albanian political parties were involved.

"Let us remember that Europe rightly took a stand against the disgraceful ethnic cleansing by Milosovic in 1999. Since then, the international community has spent €2 billion, not including defense costs, to try to rebuild Kosovo. We did not do that in order to see Kosovar Serbs being ethnically cleansed in their turn.

"Let me share with you my reflections on my visit to Kosovo. I have to say that Javier and I emerged very disappointed. We saw at first hand the anger and upset of Serbs in a suburb of Pristina called Kosovo Polje. We were looking for evidence that Kosovar Albanian leaders understood those feelings. There was precious little sign of it. On the contrary, there was an attempt to blame everyone but themselves for what had happened. There was one exception to this. PM Rexhepi rose to the occasion. He showed great courage in visiting troubled spots to try to defuse tensions. He also immediately understood the responsibility of the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) to put right the wrongs that were done to Kosovar Serbs. Before we arrived, he had decided to set up a reconstruction fund with an initial budget of €5 million. He understood that it was the duty of his Government to put things right, not the responsibility of the international community. I did not come to Pristina to promise that European tax payers' money would be used instead. That would be unacceptable. He promised that rapid action would be taken to repair damaged property so that people could get back to their homes as quickly as possible. Javier and I promised to come back as soon as we could in order to see for ourselves that progress on reconstruction was actually occurring.

"What are the priorities now? NATO has reacted swiftly to increase troop numbers in order to provide better security. This has had an immediate effect on calming tensions, although we have to remain very vigilant about the situation. Next, UNMIK police are trying as quickly as possible to identify those responsible for these attacks so that they can be taken out of circulation and punished. It is incumbent on the leaders of the Albanian political partners to purge their ranks of such people. Next, there needs to be an investigation of the role played by the Kosovo police service (KPS) in the disturbances. There were reports that some members of the KPS did their duty well, but there have also been reports of KPS members either taking no action to prevent these attacks or worse still, participating in them. UNMIK are determined to get to the bottom of what actually happened. Next, we have to be quite clear that we stand fully behind UNMIK. There were clear signs of organized attacks on UNMIK property and staff. That is completely unacceptable.

"The European Union strongly supports the UN as an institution. We cannot tolerate attacks on the UN, whether in Kosovo, or anywhere else. Next, we need to work very closely with our United States partners. Javier and I had a very constructive meeting with Marcie Ries, the American Representative in Pristina. We all agreed that we needed to make it absolutely clear to the Kosovars that we were at one in our reaction to these events.

"Finally, it is absolutely essential that the political leaderships in Belgrade and Pristina refrain from provocative statements which can only serve to exacerbate tensions. Final status discussions are for another day. Last week's declaration by the Serbian Parliament insisting on permanent sovereignty for Serbia and a system of cantons inside Kosovo was extremely unhelpful to say the least. So were statements by Kosovar Albanian leaders in the immediate aftermath of the violence that they would not accept anything short of independence.

"It is always tempting after horrible events like these to conclude that we should rip up our strategy and come up with a new plan. I do not believe that we can give up on our insistence about a multi-ethnic Kosovo in which all ethnic groups can live freely and without fear. Nor do I believe that we should abandon the idea of "standards before status". On the other hand, I don't think that we should send a signal that final status discussion will be delayed indefinitely. That would risk a grave worsening of tension. Nothing that happened earlier this month can change the geography of Kosovo. We all have a shared interest in making sure that Kosovo does not become a black hole in the middle of SE Europe, where organized crime flourishes and ethnic division is entrenched. We have to go on working patiently for the long term future. Whatever Kosovo's final status, its future lies in Europe.”