Jim O'Keeffe
Question:233 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of Irish policy on Kosovo and in particular on the demand by the Kosovar people for full independence. [7455/04]
View answerTuesday, 9 March 2004
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Written answers
The Government strongly support the work of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Kosovo, Mr. Harri Holkeri, to ensure the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1244. I discussed the situation in Kosovo with Mr. Holkeri when he visited Dublin on 19 December last for consultations in advance of Ireland's EU Presidency. As we hold the Presidency, we are remaining in close contact with the Special Representative and with the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK. Considerable progress has been made in Kosovo since 1999, under UN administration. However, the situation in Kosovo remains uncertain, and it retains the potential to affect the stability of the wider region of the western Balkans. The Government believes that it is essential that the international community maintains its commitment to the creation of a secure, multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo, on the basis of Resolution 1244. The EU has a long-term commitment to Kosovo. We recognise that a solution in Kosovo will be found in the overall context of the European perspective of the countries of the western Balkans. In the second half of 2003, UNMIK and the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo agreed on the strengthening of the policy of standards before status through a process of defining the reform objectives for Kosovo, with regular reviews leading to an overall review sometime in mid-2005. The standards for Kosovo document was launched in December. Special Representative Holkeri, in consultation with the authorities in Kosovo and the wider international community, is now finalising a detailed standards implementation work plan, which he hopes to present to the UN Security Council in the coming weeks.
An essential element in the standards process leading up to the mid-2005 review is the development of the direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on practical issues of mutual concern. The dialogue was launched in Vienna on 14 October 2003, with the establishment of four working groups, on energy, transport and telecommunications, missing persons, and refugee returns. Following a period of political difficulty, the first meeting of the working group on energy was successfully held in Pristina on 4 March and the first meeting of the group on missing persons is scheduled for today, 9 March. This is an encouraging development. The EU looks forward to practical results from the dialogue in the months ahead, which will be in the interests of the people of Kosovo and of their neighbours. The General Affairs and External Relations Council agreed on 23 February that the UN-led policy of implementing standards and the EU's efforts to promote the European perspective of Kosovo are mutually reinforcing and represent parallel tracks of the same process. As EU Presidency, Ireland has maintained the priority attached to the situation in the western Balkans and has ensured that close attention is paid to the situation in Kosovo, in co-operation with Special Representative Holkeri and with the wider international community.
Following the February Council discussion on Kosovo, the Presidency is considering with member states ways and means of further enhancing the contribution of the EU to the implementation of Resolution 1244, building further on the lead role played by the Union in support of economic reconstruction and development in Kosovo.