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Yugoslav leader sets EU membership as its goal |
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November 16, 2000
BRUSSELS-- (UNB/AP) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said Wednesday that European Union membership is the final goal of his democratic reforms, but that the path to it will be long and hard. Kostunica spoke to the 626-member European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, saying the EU is a "shining example" of where Yugoslavia and the Balkan region should be headed after years of bloodshed. "A step by step approach ... is a model we should adopt in the Balkan processes of integration in order to qualify for the entry into the European Union," Kostunica said. Kostunica urged the 15-nation EU to expand its relationship with Belgrade by offering it a blueprint for membership. He called on the Union to sign an association agreement with Yugoslavia as soon as possible, offering much needed financial support through political and economic recovery programs. "We are aware that ... we would have to change many of our habits and institutions of political and economic life both as people and as a state," he said. Yugoslavia not only has to build democratic institutions, he said, but it must also "give them democratic spirit. That may prove much more difficult." The Yugoslav president told the European parliamentarians that his country has already achieved "extraordinary results" since his democratic coalition defeated former President Slobodan Milosevic in elections Sept. 24. On Nov. 1, Yugoslavia was welcomed into the United Nations, ending eight years of ostracism under Milosevic. Yugoslavia has also been readmitted to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a regional organization that promotes human rights and democracy across Europe. Recent meetings with EU leaders resulted in pledges to back Kostunica in rebuilding his country's economy and infrastructure after years of international isolation and a devastating NATO-led bombing campaign. The EU has already pledged an emergency aid package of 200 million euros (dlrs 175 million) to get Yugoslavia through the winter. More money will soon be on the way. Kostunica said he has also urged European business leaders to start reinvesting in his country, but acknowledged Yugoslavia still had to consolidate democratic changes before real money will begin to flow. He said Kosovo is the country's most difficult problem and told reporters after his speech that Kosovo's position within Yugoslavia and within the Serb republic would be based on "substantial autonomy," as called for by U.N. Security Council resolutions. "One must be realistic," he said. "We must be looking for a solution." Kostunica said Yugoslavia would inevitably cooperate with the international war crimes tribunal, which wants to bring suspected Serb war criminals to trial, but he said the court's process is not fair. "The tribunal is not enough to get the whole picture of the truth," he said, suggesting a truth commission would be the best solution. There were victims and human suffering on all sides, he said. "Every country should face its past, its crimes its victims, and so it goes with us also," Kostunica added.
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