B3-0866 and 0939/93

The European Parliament,

A.whereas, in recent weeks, a number of volunteers from EC countries involved in humanitarian aid and support work in the former Yugoslavia have been killed in Bosnia-Herzegovina,

B.having regard to this valuable work, which in many European countries reflects a strong, widespread public reaction against the war in the former Yugoslavia and support for all the victims and for peaceful, fair solutions to the conflict,

C.disappointed that the most senior officials of the Community and its Member States, the CSCE and the UN have been unable to bring an end to the conflict and its attendant atrocities in the former Yugoslavia,

D.convinced that the voluntary work of helping the refugees, providing assistance on the spot, reestablishing communications between the various parts of the former Yugoslavia, setting up twinnings and work camps, and helping women who have been raped in some cases proves more effective and more credible than the political, diplomatic, military and welfare measures implemented by the official UN and EC bodies,

1.Pays tribute to the European volunteers Fabio Moreni, Guido Puletti, Jimmy Nygaard, Niels Bromand, Sergio Lana and the soldiers Angel Tornel Yáńez, Arturo Muńoz Castellanos and Francisco Jesús Aguilar Fernández, and all the others who have been killed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and extends its condolences to their respective families;

2.Expresses its highest regard for the civil and humanitarian voluntary aid groups, associations and organizations involved in helping the victims and bringing about reconciliation and dialogue in the former Yugoslavia;

3.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to guarantee aid workers, particularly those working in war zones, full welfare protection commensurate with the risks they run, extending to cover their surviving dependants should they be killed;

4.Resolves to demonstrate its commitment to peace by erecting during the current parliamentary term, in the vicinity of the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, and by agreement with the city authorities, the Commission and the governments of the Member States, a memorial to the soldiers, aid workers and journalists who have lost their lives in the former Yugoslavia; the memorial should also serve as a reminder of the EC's inability to end the conflict and as an incentive to establish European Political Union as quickly as possible in order to carry out a proper international peace-keeping role;

5.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the parliaments of the Member States and the Mayor of Strasbourg.