Plenary session, Wednesday 14 April 1999

Statement by the Council on the situation in Kosovo

Speech by Olivier Dupuis

Dupuis (ERA). Honourable President, I believe that we can finally state that in the last few days the spirit of Munich has hovered a bit less over our Assembly. Only one month ago this was not the case. Finally, following the development of the situation, we are now facing up to it and not pretending, as the honourable Mrs Alvoet has said, that the problem of the UNO was not created by Kosovo and that it existed before the Kosovo issue.

We are aware of the power of veto that exists in the Security Council and we are aware that certain states resort to this power constantly in order to block any initiative by the international community. There was no alternative, honourable Mrs Alvoet, to NATO intervention. It is sad, I agree, but it is the truth. I would like to tell the honourable Mr Pasty that I believe he is over optimistic. To believe that Milosevic may commit suicide is to do him too much honour. It means refusing to understand that his policy is carefully planned and scientific.

I have many doubts and am very sceptical about the German project. The German project will be exploited by Milosevic to gradually withdraw his troops as far as he thinks fit, to reach a situation that we have denounced since as long ago as August: a partition of Kosovo, a partition from which he will emerge victorious, a partition that will allow him to annex 40% or 50% of the territory of Kosovo, where there happen to be several monasteries, but also many much richer sites such as mines. He will annex this part, and from then on will refuse to turn back, and the international community, tired after long weeks of military intervention, will sign Milosevic's victory as it did in Dayton. It will assign to him 50% of the territory of Kosovo, as it did in Dayton with half the territory of Bosnia, and this 50% of Kosovo will obviously be cleansed of any Kosovan presence.

This is the risk we are faced with. I believe we must keep it in mind. We know the intellectual and criminal resources of Milosevic. We know he is capable of anything. He has demonstrated this once again. As far as I am concerned I didn't need any more proof, but I think that for many colleagues this demonstration was necessary to make them finally open their eyes. I believe we must continue to keep them open and to work for his indictment by the Court in the Hague, because for a long time now he has no longer been a political interlocutor. It is high time that the international community realised this.