Ivan Yates
Ceist:74 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the current situation in Albania. [4274/00]
Written Answers. - Foreign Conflicts.
The ending of the Cold War, and the consequent dismantling of communist regimes in eastern Europe created both challenges and opportunities for Albania. Internally there have been far-reaching changes. Albania has also been affected by the consequences of the break up of the former Yugoslavia, especially the crisis in Kosovo last year.
Since the collapse of communism in 1990 Albania has been prone to widespread civil disturbance. The immediate trigger of most of the recent disturbances was the collapse of fraudulent pyramid investment schemes run under the Government of Sali Berisha in 1997. However the causes lay in Albania's decades of isolation, to problems in rebuilding its political system and economic structures and extreme poverty. Albania is the poorest country in Europe. GDP per capita averages around 765 euro. According to the World Bank some 30% of its population live under the poverty line.
There has been very substantial EU assistance in Albania since the end of communism in 1991. The EU aids Albania within the OSCE framework and co-ordinates its action with both the Western European Union and the Council of Europe. Albania receives support under the EU PHARE programme and a trade and co-operation agreement has been in place since 1992. The European Community Monitor Mission, is present on the Albania-Kosovo border as well as in other parts of the country. Owing to their geographical proximity Greece and Italy, both of which have large numbers of economic refugees from Albania, are the EU member states most to the fore in providing bilateral aid for the country. Since 1991 Albania has received a proportionally greater amount of aid per capita than any post-communist country.
Further EU efforts will be channelled through the Friends of Albania group of which Ireland, and all other EU member states, are members. Since 1997 the OSCE mission in Albania has been involved in political mediation and specific activities in the field of democratisation, media and judiciary. The OSCE mission is conceived as an overall co-ordinating framework for Albania. In September 1998 the Friends of Albania group was formed in order to provide political coherence for assistance to the country. The group is co-chaired by the OSCE chairman-in-office and the EU presidency. The next meeting of the group is to take place on 28 February in Vienna.
Ireland and its EU partners are concerned by potential instability in the country caused in part by the economic situation, in part by confrontation between the main Government and Opposition parties and the ongoing consequences of the widespread civil disturbance in 1997 and 1998. More than half a million weapons looted from army barracks during the periods of civil disturbance are in private hands. As a response to this the EU supports financially a moderately successful weapons for development programme, administered by the UN development programme, by which local areas will get increased financial support in return for a surrender of all privately held weapons.
There is also concern among EU partners, however, about the level of organised crime which thrives in the unstable economic and political environment. The consequences of this for Kosovo, which Albanian criminal gangs view as an area ripe for exploitation is a matter of special concern for all EU partners which have committed international personnel in Kosovo, including Ireland. The Friends of Albania group has called on the Government to restructure and professionalise the police forces as a response to this problem. The Western European Union is engaged in a programme of advice and training for police at district and police unit levels as part of an international effort to enhance the capability of the forces of law and order to deal with the situation.
Since the resignation of Fatos Nano as Prime Minister in October 1998 his successors Pandeli Majko and, from October 1999, the current Prime Minister Illir Meta, have pursued a course of constructive reform and economic regeneration which has the broad support of international financial institutions, the IMF and World Bank, the EU and the international community in general. Although the Opposition DP has ended its boycott of Parliament which it maintained from 1998-99 there is concern that the continued confrontation between Government and Opposition will perpetuate the climate of political instability which could threaten this economic reform programme. EU representatives have attempted to persuade the leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, to accept the role of main Opposition party in a constitutional democracy, so far without success.
The EU Commission recently made an assessment of the feasibility of negotiating a stabilisation and association agreement with Albania. The Commission's view, expressed in the conclusions of the General Affairs Council of 24 January, is that while progress has been made, a number of issues, in particular consolidation of the rule of law and acceleration of structural reforms will have to be addressed for a successful participation by the country in the stabilisation and association process. Further technical talks are being carried out with Albania on the extension of the ongoing EU assistance for the country. Ireland supports the continuation of EU aid for Albania and welcomes the commitment of the Government of Prime Minister Meta to bring about progress and economic development of the country.
Enda Kenny
Ceist:75 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the current situation in Kosovo. [4281/00]
The Government is very concerned at the current situation in Kosovo. Although the humanitarian needs of most of the population are now being met, the security situation is deteriorating and violence between the ethnic communities is continuing, including attacks by the majority Kosovo-Albanian community on the minority Serb and Roma communities. All this is undermining the efforts of the international community to achieve democratic and multiethnic self-government for Kosovo.
Following the ending of the Kosovo conflict last year, Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council effectively put Kosovo under a UN administration. The mandate of UNMIK – United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo – is to restore a high degree of democratic self-government to Kosovo involving all ethnic groups. With the aid of international organisations such as the OSCE and the Council of Europe it has made some progress towards this end, in particular through the setting up in January of the joint interim administrative structure as a means of involving the local population in their own government. Unfortunately, the Serbian community is currently boycotting these arrangements. They have indicated that they will continue to do so until the security situation for their community is improved.
Recent reports record a sharp deterioration in the security situation, particularly in the Mitrovica area. These reports have detailed a number of incidents of attacks against Kosovo Serbs – including a rocket attack on a UNHCR bus transporting Kosovo Serbs – and revenge attacks against the Kosovo Albanian community. At the beginning of February there were several days of rioting in Mitrovica, which is divided between Serb and Albanian areas. Several civilians were killed or injured and 11 KFOR personnel were hurt by rioting Albanians.
UNMIK continues to be critically short of financial resources to pay for the restoration of local services, including basic utilities, and the salaries of local employees to run them. In addition, the UNMIK police mission is still at less than 50% of its authorised strength. This is having a negative effect on the political situation as it weakens the confidence of the local population in the UNMIK administration. The EU Commission has recently disbursed 35 million euro in favour of the Kosovo consolidated budget to fund local services and has promised further funds for this purpose especially the restoration of electricity supplies.
The Government is working within international bodies – United Nations, EU, OSCE and the Council of Europe – to secure an improvement in the situation. My predecessor, as chairman of the committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, visited Pristina last month to assess the contribution of the council. Mr Andrews reported to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe at its session in Strasbourg on 24 January, and I will follow up on his activities on this important issue.
As regards the contribution of the EU, the situation in Kosovo was discussed at the most recent meeting of the General Affairs Council on 14 February. We reiterated our condemnation of all acts of violence and particularly the outbreak of ethnic violence in Mitrrovica. We called on all political leaders to firmly condemn all violence and use their influence to stop it. EU assistance to Kosovo is also dependent on progress in inter- ethnic reconciliation and on the implementation of Resolution 1244 in all its aspects.