Vol. 510 No. 3
124 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on continued sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the humanitarian situation in prospect in that country due to the effects of bombing and sanctions. [22461/99]
International sanctions have been applied by the EU against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – FRY – since the first half of 1998, when the situation in Kosovo began to deteriorate. Similar sanctions have also been applied by the associated countries following the lead given by the EU and by countries such as Switzerland and the United States.
The following sanctions currently apply to the FRY: a prohibition of government support for export credits and the sale or supply of equipment which might be used for internal repression or terrorism; a freeze on the funds held abroad by the Governments of FRY and Serbia; a freeze of funds and a ban on investment in the FRY; a prohibition on the sale and supply of petrol and petrol products to FRY; a ban on flights between the European Union and the FRY; a ban on the issue of visas for entry to any EU member state to certain named individuals identified with the Belgrade regime or whose activities support President Milosevic.
Ireland and its EU partners are convinced of the need to maintain sanctions against the FRY as a means of applying pressure on Belgrade to implement necessary democratic reforms internally and contribute to the stability of the region. We are conscious, however, of the need to make it clear that our dispute is not with the Serbian people but with the Government of President Milosevic. We seek to convey this message through support for the democratic opposition, and by means of aid directed at the people of Serbia through such programmes as the energy for democracy scheme. Changes in the sanctions regime are under consideration so as to maintain pressure on members of, and those close to, the Milosevic Government, without causing suffering to the Serbian people as a whole.
International humanitarian agencies estimate that approximately three million people in Serbia are in need of some humanitarian assistance, of whom 900,000 are in receipt of some form of international aid. There are currently 660,000 refugees within Serbia. These comprise some 160,000 non-ethnic Albanian internally displaced persons, IDPs, from Kosovo and 500,000 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia.
