The situation on the territory of the former Yugoslavia

The European Parliament,

A. deeply concerned at the continuing tension and violence in

certain parts of the territory of the former Socialist

Federative Republic of Yugoslavia,

B. concerned also at the implications which destabilization in

the region is having for the Community and its Member

States,

C. noting the results and events surrounding the referendum in

the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina on 29 February and 1

March 1992, as reported by Parliament's observers,

D. fully supporting the efforts of the Council of Ministers

and praising the excellent work of the EC monitors,

E. welcoming the decision by the UN Security Council to send

13 000 troops to the former Yugoslavia on a peace-keeping

mission and asking UN Member States to ensure that the

operation is properly financed,

F. noting the result of the referendum in the Republic of

Montenegro,

G. having regard to its previous resolutions,

1. Acknowledges the result of the referendum in Bosnia-

Herzegovina, which revealed a sizeable majority in favour

of independence;

2. Believes that Bosnia-Herzegovina now meets the Community's

requirements concerning the recognition of independence and

urges that any change in the constitutional status of

Bosnia-Herzegovina must be accompanied by the establishment

of effective guarantees for the human and minority rights

of all its citizens;

3. Applauds the efforts of the leaders of the communities to

reach agreements which will prevent further bloodshed in

the Republic; insists that all parties must make every

effort to maintain peace and move forward on the basis of

the referendum result, which commands the greatest possible

degree of support from the population as a whole;

4. Asks the Council and the Commission to offer their

assistance in the process of continuing the conference on

the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina in which all population

groups and all political parties must be able to

participate;

5. Believes that the Community should adopt the 'Treaty

Provisions for the Convention', especially chapter 2 on the

protection of the rights of minorities and human rights, as

its guideline for the negotiations;

6. Insists that the political authorities in neighbouring

republics must refrain from any action or statements which

could further inflame the situation;7. Warns against a large-scale acceptance of dual nationality

for population groups in Bosnia-Herzegovina and asks the

governments involved to enter immediately into negotiations

on cultural and economic agreements which are not based on

ethnic discrimination or ethnic privileges;

8. Stresses the importance of the freedom and independence of

the press and the media;

9. Asks the Council and the Commission to help the Government

of Bosnia-Herzegovina to solve the problems connected with

the future of the Yugoslav national army, insofar as it

cooperates with the Government;

10. Believes that the Community should establish economic and

cultural relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina so that it will

be able to participate fully in Community programmes for

Central Europe;

11. Takes note of the request from the former Yugoslav

'Republic of Macedonia' for diplomatic recognition on the

basis of the referendum of 8 September 1991, the views of

the 'Badinter' Commission on this request, and the Council

decision of 16 December 1991 on the guidelines for

recognition;

12. Urges that any change in the constitutional status of

Macedonia must be accompanied by unequivocal undertakings

by the Macedonian Government and Parliament that they will

not seek any territorial changes in the frontiers of their

republic;

13. Stresses the need for the Community and its Member States

to play their full part in underwriting such guarantees;

14. Calls on the parties concerned to make every effort to find

a mutually acceptable solution to the current problems in

an atmosphere of restraint; supports the Council's

commitment to mediate over the question of the name of the

republic and other political problems before proceeding to

recognition of the republic; believes that all the

necessary means must be used to bring about negotiations as

soon as possible;

15. Believes, however, that it is totally unacceptable for

political disagreements between Member States to be

pursued by economic means; welcomes the condemnation of

popular initiatives of this sort by the authorities of the

Member State concerned;

16. Stresses again that respect for the human rights of all the

inhabitants of the former Yugoslavia remains essential if

conflicts, potentially catastrophic to all concerned, are

to be avoided, and recalls, therefore, its previous

resolutions on Kosovo, insisting that the Serbian and other

governments fully respect the rights of the Albanians of

this and other parts of the former Yugoslavia;

17. Hopes that all authorities in the former Yugoslav republics

will do everything possible to avoid national antagonisms

and their consequences, and in particular to work for

economic cooperation, equitable sharing of the Yugoslav

debt, free movement of people and goods, and rapid transit

arrangements across boundaries;

18. Reiterates its belief that absolute acceptance of CSCE

principles is a precondition for the recognition of any new

states within Europe and that no changes of frontiers made

by force will be recognized;

19. Recalls the guarantees given by the newly independent

republics and by the other republics of the former

Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia concerning

their commitment to a peaceful and negotiated end to the

conflict and to respect for human rights, in particular

those of minorities; urges, in particular from the

Croatian authorities, full respect for these guarantees and

believes that relations between the Community and the

states and republics must continue to be shaped by the

extent to which each lives up to its undertakings;

20. Expresses its support for the continuation of the peace

conference on Yugoslavia, chaired by Lord Carrington;

21. Supports the Citizen's Peace Conference to be organized by

the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly with the goal of providing

a forum for citizens' groups within which to debate the

future of the former Yugoslav republics and the

construction of peace and democracy in the region; also

supports the Municipal Peace Conference to be held in

Sarajevo in November 1992, bringing together mayors and

other local officials from the former Yugoslav republics

and elsewhere in Europe;

22. Expresses the strongest possible support for the work of

the EC monitors and for the deployment of UN peace-keeping

forces; acknowledges the cooperation to date of all the

relevant national authorities and calls on them to maintain

this constructive approach;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council, EPC and the Secretary-General of

the United Nations.