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SAARISELKA, Finland - European Union foreign ministers on Saturday shelved the idea of easing sanctions against Yugoslavia in support of pro-democracy Serbs seeking to topple President Slobodan Milosevic.
Meeting informally at a Lapland ski resort, ministers said they wanted to offer humanitarian aid to Serbia's fledgling democratic movement but this was a complicated process and often involved dealing with the Belgrade administration.
"Everyone understands it's a very complicated issue," said acting EU External Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek, noting it was impossible to help democratically controlled Serb municipalities restore energy supplies without dealing with the Serb government which runs the energy monopolies.
"The last thing we want to do is help the leadership in Serbia," he said.
While some states want to ease the burden on Serbs who face a harsh winter with no fuel, others, notably Britain, want to see clear signs that Serbs embrace common European values, and insist Milosevic must go before any serious aid is sent.
"We want to see the people of Serbia join the modern democratic Europe, but to do that they must also embrace the values and standards of the modern democratic Europe," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said.
"That means they cannot have as their head of state someone who is an indicted war criminal," he said.
An EU embargo on oil supplies and a ban on international flights to Yugoslavia will remain, although they will be lifted against Montenegro and Kosovo later this month, once the European Commission has completed the paperwork.
Ministers agreed to drop one of the more symbolic sanctions -- discouraging sporting links -- imposed on Yugoslavia last year and said they would consider inviting representatives of Serb opposition groups to talks in Brussels "at some stage".
They also urged the international community to be vigilant over the delicate situation in East Timor following a conclusive vote there for independence after 24 years of often harsh rule by Indonesia.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama said he had discussed with his colleagues the urgent need for an international peackeeping force to be sent to Lisbon's former colony.
"It's clear to us there is an immediate need to reassure the security conditions...and move quickly to a stabilisation force, to a peacekeeping force," he told reporters.
Britain's Cook said both the United Nations and the EU had to prepare contingency plans in case Indonesia failed to curb the growing campaign of terror by pro-Jakarta militias.
Ministers touched on the institutional issues related to setting up a security and defence policy, and on Sunday will tackle relations with Turkey amid signs of a thaw.
Prompted by public sympathy after last month's devastating Turkish earthquake, Greece has sent strong signals that it will drop its block on significant EU financial aid earmarked for Turkey, its neighbour and NATO ally but long-time rival.
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told Reuters he believed that accepting Turkey as a fully-fledged EU candidate later this year was an attainable, though difficult goal.
Asked if EU leaders could formalise Turkey's candidacy at a Helsinki summit in December, Papandreou said: "I hope we can, but there will be certain issues which will need to be resolved and accepted by all sides."
"We must break down the final wall that Europe has which divides an island, Cyprus," he told reporters earlier.
The informal EU talks were threatened briefly by a simmering row over which languages should be spoken around the table.
Objecting to a deal where hosts Finland allowed translation into German, Spain's Foreign Minister Abel Matutes scored a point by speaking in Spanish before switching to English.
Finland promised to offer proposals soon to try to end the bickering.