Vol. 487 No. 3
116 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the mounting tensions in the Kosovo area; the plans, if any, his Department and the Presidency of the EU have to take urgent action before the fragile peace completely breaks down. [4190/98]
I am deeply concerned about mounting tensions in Kosovo. We continue to take every opportunity, including through recent bilateral contracts and with our EU partners, to impress on the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FRY and the Kosovar Albanians the need for restraint and the early start of substantive dialogue to resolve the issues which are at the heart of these tensions.
The EU has condemned both violent police action against peaceful demonstrators in Kosovo and terrorist acts by certain Kosovars. The EU declaration of 9 April 1996 on recognition of the FRY by EU member states called for full respect for human and minority rights and the granting of a large degree of autonomy for Kosovo within the FRY. This remains the Union's position as spelt out most recently in a public declaration by the Union to the citizens of the FRY.
Confidence-building measures need to be set in place urgently. The education agreement, which was brokered in 1996 by the Vatican-based St. Egidio Community, between President Milosevic and Kosovar leader, Dr. Rugova, needs to be implemented without delay to allow Kosovar students to return to their institutions. I hope further mediation by the St. Egidio Community will achieve progress. The EU has made clear its readiness to provide financial support urgently for any agreed solution on education and to assist with other measures for the building of a civil society in Kosovo. The EU is ready to exercise a beneficial role through the opening of an office in Kosovo, if allowed to do so by the FRY authorities.
