I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Monitor Mission to Yugoslavia, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 12th July, 1991."
The Memorandum of Understanding is an agreement by which a multi-national Monitor Mission, whose main purpose is to stabilise the cease-fire in Yugoslavia, will be established. It is intended that the memorandum will be signed later today or tomorrow in Belgrade by the Presidency on behalf of the Community and its member states, by the representatives of the Federal Government of Yugoslavia, and by representatives of Slovenia and Croatia.
The mandate of the Monitor Mission, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, will consist of three main points.
First, the mission will help stabilise the cease-fire agreed between the Yugoslav parties with the assistance of the Community. The mission will conduct ad hoc evaluations of, and investigate alleged violations of, the following elements of the cease-fire: the lifting of the blockade of Yugoslav army units and facilities; the unconditional return of Yugoslav army units to their barracks; the clearing of all roads; the return of all facilities and equipment to the Yugoslav army; and the deactivation of territorial defence units and their return to quarters.
Secondly, the mission will monitor the suspension, for a period of three months, of the implementation of the declarations of independence of Slovenia and Croatia.
Thirdly, if and when required the mission will monitor the release and return of prisoners detained in connection with hostilities since 25 June 1991, in co-operation with the International Red Cross.
The mission will commence its activities as soon as possible after signature of the Memorandum of Understanding by all participating parties. It is intended that the mission's activities will end after three months, but the parties may decide to prolong its mandate.
The mission will concentrate its activities on Slovenia and, as appropriate, Croatia unless the parties agree that the implementation of the mandate also requires activities beyond these areas.
Initially, there will be between 30 and 50 members of the mission; these will be known as monitors. Monitors will not carry arms and will wear civilian dress. They will have the facilities necessary for them to undertake their duties, including the privileges and immunities extended to diplomatic agents.
The mission will have a very clear Twelve character. The mission will display the flag of the European Community and will operate under the responsibility of the head of the mision, who will be a national of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Community — currently, the Netherlands.
As is made clear in the Memorandum of Understanding, the Yugoslav authorities have requested the European Community and its member states to organise this monitor mission. This mission has been endorsed by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. All 35 participating states in the CSCE, meeting in Prague on 3 and 4 July, welcomed the readiness of the Community to organise the mission. It is provided that the Community's Presidency will inform the CSCE committee of senior officials at the earliest opportunity on the activities and findings of the mission. At a later date, other CSCE countries may contribute monitors to the mission. This, if it happens will be done with the agreement of the Yugoslav authorities, at whose invitation the mission operates, and on the basis of the arrangements now worked out between the Twelve and the Yugoslav parties.
It is intended that Ireland will contribute a small number of officers from the defence forces and the Civil Service to serve as monitors with this mission. I consider that participation by Ireland will enable this country to make a valuable and concrete contribution to resolving the Yugoslav crisis, which is a threat to peace, stability and security in Europe. I believe our participation will serve as a powerful indication of the concern that is so clearly felt by the people of Ireland at the tragic events of the last few weeks. It will serve to underline, once again, our long-standing commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict, and our readiness to assist in the ways that are open to us in reaching a peaceful solution of crises in the international arena and, in this instance, a solution by negotiation of the problems that afflict Yugoslavia and her peoples. I would emphasise that full compliance with the letter and the spirit of all the provisions of the Brioni Agreement is essential for the European Community and its member states to continue their current efforts of assistance in overcoming the Yugoslav crisis. The mission also represents recognition by all European countries, and by the United States and Canada, of the role which an ever more united Community is called upon to play in the new Europe that has emerged in the past two years. The international community looks to the Twelve to help Yugoslavia in the search for a future structure that is acceptable to the peoples of all its constituent republics. The fact that the federal authorities in Yugoslavia as well as the representatives of Slovenia and Croatia are parties to the Memorandum of Understanding underlines the particular acceptability of the Community as an interlocutor in the crisis. It is incumbent on the Community, and in particular on all its member states, to respond wholeheartedly to the challenge and to fulfil the expectations placed in us. For these reasons, I warmly welcome the opportunity that is offered to us to participate in this mission.
For many months now, the Twelve have been very actively engaged in efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problems in Yugoslavia. The European Council on 28 June sent the Troika of Foreign Ministers to Yugoslavia where they secured agreement from the parties on a threepoint package: (i) a cease-fire with a withdrawal to barracks of armed forces; (ii) a three-month moratorium on the implementation of the declarations of independence; (iii) the appointment in regular rotation of the Croat representative, Mr. Mesic, as President of the Presidential College. On 30 June the Troika obtained renewed commitments to these terms.
On 7 July the Troika again held lengthy discussions on the island of Brioni with the Yugoslav federal authorities, and with representatives of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, Mr. Mesic had in the meantime been installed in regular rotation as President of the Presidential College. The Yugoslav parties reaffirmed their commitment to the points of the cease-fire agreed on 30 June with Twelve mediation. It is the joint declaration of the Brioni meeting that forms the basis for the despatch of the monitor mission and which also provides an agreed reference point for further efforts to negotiate a settlement of the Yugoslav crisis.
At Brioni, the Yugoslav parties agreed that it is up to the peoples of Yugoslavia to decide upon their future, that a new situation has arisen in Yugoslavia, and that all parties concerned will refrain from any unilateral action, particularly from all acts of violence. As called for by the Twelve, the parties in Yugoslavia also agreed that talks would start by 1 August on all aspects of Yugoslavia's future without preconditions and on the basis of CSCE principles, in particular respect for human rights, including the right of peoples to self-determination in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and with the relevant norms of international law, including those relating to territorial integrity.
The situation in Yugoslavia is a particularly difficult one and its handling is of great importance for the future development of affairs on the continent of Europe. Reference is frequently made in this case to the right of peoples to self-determination, and, of course, this is one of the principles that applies. However, we should pause and consider whether this principle can be applied in isolation.
In the case of Yugoslavia alone, for instance, the Republic of Croatia has also proclaimed its independence, the implementation of which has now been suspended for three months too. Croatia has a population of 600,000 Serbs. Are these Serbs, too, to be conceded the unqualified right of self-determination? The autonomous province of Kosovo, now part of Serbia, has a two-thirds majority of Albanians. Kosovo is at the same time the historical heartland of Serbia. Should the principle of self-determination, unqualified, be applied here? I could go on. The autonomous province of Vojvodina contains a significant minority of ethnic Hungarians. The rationale for the separate existence of the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is mainly that the population is predominantly Muslim, but one third of the population is Serbian and nearly one fifth is Croat.
The same pattern can be replicated in a general way more widely in other countries of eastern Europe. The fact is that the right to self-determination is not to be looked at entirely in isolation. It is a principle which exists in tension with others, in particular that of the territorial integrity of states. This is recognised by all the participating states of the CSCE, as evidenced, for example, in the Charter of Paris where all 35 said:
We reaffirm the equal rights of peoples and their right to self-determination in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and with the relevant norms of international law, including those relating to territorial integrity of States.
At the same time, it is, of course, now clear, and accepted by all parties in Yugoslavia, that the existing constitutional arrangements in Yugoslavia are no longer viable. They have to be revised in order to take account of all the principles contained in the Charter of Paris and, more specifically, the legal, human rights, including the rights of minority populations, economic, commercial, financial and security relations mentioned in the Brioni Joint Declaration.
The talks agreed to between the Yugoslav parties will, as I have explained, be explicitly based on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris. The aim of Twelve policy is to promote the beginning of these talks in the very near future. I trust that they will enable all the peoples of Yugoslavia to decide their future on the basis of negotiated agreement. It has in any case to be clear that it is up to the Yugoslavs themselves to decide their future. We in the international community have a responsibility to help create the conditions in which that is possible. I am certain that we in Ireland accept our full share of that responsibility and will play our role in the international efforts to achieve a peaceful outcome to the Yugoslav crisis.