Jim O'Keeffe
Question:83 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide support for reconstruction in Serbia and the relief of poverty there following the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic. [22412/00]
Written Answers. - Reconstruction of Serbia.
Relieving poverty in Serbia, and the entire Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is a two-fold problem involving the provision of relief aid for current needs and the transformation of the economy to ensure that relief will not be needed in the future.
Relief has been continually provided over the last number of years to the most vulnerable people, including to the very high number of refugees and displaced persons living in Serbia. The humanitarian needs of these people become most serious during the winter. Last winter Ireland provided more than £425,000 to displaced and vulnerable persons in Serbia and Montenegro. This winter, Ireland will again provide significant levels of assistance to these groups.
Already this year, the European Community Humanitarian Office, on behalf of the European Union member states, has provided 32 million euros for humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees and other vulnerable groups in Serbia. In response to more recent events in Serbia, the European Council meeting in Biarritz endorsed an expansion of this aid package to 200 million euros. This expansion will address immediate humanitarian needs as well as some of the longer term obstacles to access and includes, for example, provision for the repair of bombed bridges over the Danube.
The principal challenge now faced by the Serbian authorities and the international donor community is addressing the broader structural problems associated with the transformation of the economy and society following many years of misrule and neglect. As with other post-Communist situations, the challenges facing Yugoslavia are too great for donor countries to address with sustainable impact solely on an individual basis. The Government will, therefore, continue to support the reconstruction of Serbia in close liaison with our European partners. We will make every appropriate effort to help ensure that, alongside the immediate priorities of reconstruction in that country, democratisation and stabilisation can proceed as quickly and effectively as possible with lasting benefit for all its people.
Question No. 84 taken with Question No. 25.