 |  |  |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
| | |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
SAARISELKA, Finland, Sept 4 (AFP) - European Union foreign ministers Saturday voiced concern about organized crime in Kosovo spreading to Western Europe, but were uncertain how to deal with it.
They also agreed, at an informal meeting in this Lapland retreat in the far north of Finland, the current EU presidency, that Serbian opposition figures should be invited to Brussels to express support for the opposition, but were nonspecific on when or how.
"The (Finnish) presidency feels we should not support any individual opposition figures, but the democratic values that they respect," said a Finnish presidency source.
"It was felt we should consider inviting some of the representatives of those opposition forces to Brussels in the future."
But he added: "No matter how much we would like to implement concrete measures on the ground to support the democratic forces..., those are rather difficult to implement on the spot."
The spokesman said the 15 ministers were unanimous on the idea of abolishing the embargo on sporting links with Serbia, saying, "They thought this could no longer be implemented and there would no longer be any point in it."
But he said there was no consensus on lifting an oil embargo and flight ban on Serbia.
The EU on Friday lifted the oil embargo imposed on Montenegro.
"That issue has been politically settled and will be legally implemented as soon as the (European) commission comes forward with their proposals," said the Finnish source, adding that should happen during the week beginning September 30.
He said many of the 15 ministers here were concerned about the growth of organized crime in the Balkans.
"It is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, and the ways of effectively fighting it on an international level are limited," he said.
"Some ministers thought there should be better control within Kosovo, but also on the Albanian border. They thought the EU, in relations with Albania, should implement some stronger conditionality on the fight against organized crime."
The ministers discussed the concept of "energy for democracy," said the spokesman, referring to the lifting of the oil embargo on Serbia in exchange for democratic reform.
"Many of the ministers thought it was a good idea, but there was no unanimous approach on how to implement and control it," he said. "Some thought oil exports should sooner or later concern all municipalities in Serbia, which of course in effect would mean ending the oil embargo."
Most oil destined for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) transits through Montenegran ports, and the decision to lift the embargo would have to be accompanied by "surveillance mechanisms" aimed at preventing the oil arriving in Montenegro from being sidetracked to Serbia, with the exception of Kosovo, sources said.
It remains to the European Commission to formulate the nuts and bolts of a lifting of the embargo in a way that would not benefit the regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, an EU source said earlier in the week.
The oil embargo was imposed a month after the start of the 11-week NATO bombing campaign on Yugoslavia aimed at forcing a halt to ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.