RESOLUTION B3-0973 AND 1049/92

Resolution on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina

The European Parliament,

outraged at the level of aggression against the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who are exposed on all sides to armed attacks designed to break up the territory into ethnically distinct regions,

regretting that the Community is still unable to agree on a dynamic and coherent policy in the region,

having regard to its resolution of 11 June 1992 on relations between the European Community and the republics of the former YugoslaviaMinutes of that sitting, Part II, Item 8,

expressing deep concern at the large-scale influx of temporary refugees and displaced persons due to the war in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and at the likelihood of a further influx if the war continues,

acknowledging that a lasting solution to the refugee crisis can only be achieved after the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and calling for the deployment of successful UNPROFOR operations in the Republic of Croatia,

recognizing that the international community and humanitarian organizations have so far provided humanitarian assistance which has proved insufficient for the states faced with the problem of temporary refugees,

affirming that a return home with full guarantees of security and non-discrimination is the basic right of the temporary refugees and displaced persons and the best means to achieve a lasting solution to their plight,

acknowledging the efforts of the governments of the republics concerned and of neighbouring states to accept large numbers of refugees,

Urges the Council to take swift action within the UN and the CSCE to bring about an immediate end to the fighting;

Stresses once again that the borders between the republics of the former Yugoslavia must never be altered by violence or the threat of violence;

Reminds the Community's political leaders that every postponement of a clear decision results in countless further deaths for which the Community must share responsibility;

Calls on the Council and the Member States to increase their humanitarian aid in the form of financial, material and economic assistance to the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Hungary which are facing the huge influx of temporary refugees, in accordance with the principle of equitable burden-sharing;

Calls upon the Council and Member States to provide humanitarian assistance in the form of financial, material and economic aid to the Republic, known to its own inhabitants as the Republic of Macedonia, which, while loyally enforcing the sanctions against the Serbian aggressors at great economic cost and giving asylum to refugees from Kosovo, is not, at present, receiving any UN or EC assistance since its existence as a state has not been recognised;

Calls on all the Member States to act in conformity with the fundamental principles of international refugee law, including the principles of equitable burden-sharing, not turning refugees away, and keeping families together;

Takes the view that the EC and its Member States have a primary responsibility to meet the requirements of the budgets of the UNHCR and the International Red Cross for the financing of their activities in the former Yugoslavia;

Calls for initiatives to establish and maintain safe zones and humanitarian corridors as soon as possible, aiming at preventing further displacements and at establishing favourable conditions for the return of the temporary refugees to the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia; takes the view, further, that all effective measures should be taken to guarantee the security of these humanitarian corridors and safe zones, to ensure a speedy supply of material aid to all the regions concerned;

Demands that, in all negotiations, UN and EC officials should fully respect the position and rights of the legal government of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose status is fundamentally different to that of the leaders of the aggression against that Republic;

Repeats its demand that all refugee and prisoner-of-war camps should be open for inspection and careful monitoring by the IRC;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the UN Security Council, the governments of the republics in the former territory of Yugoslavia.