YouSaid · the spoken record

Bildt

lines on the record: 62
first: 2000-02-28
most recent: 2000-06-23
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-security-council

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“The experience of the last 10 years is that if the international community- and the Council is the ultimate expression of the international community- is not united in some sort of way behind the consensus of what we area trying to achieve in the region in terms of stability and peace, then we are not likely to succeed. So the dialogue with and within the Council is absolutely essential as we prepare ourselves for that day when the conditions are there for the comprehensive regional settlement of the political issues, which will also pave the way for a resolution of all of the "minor" issues that we have been addressing today. In that spirit, and as an old friend as well, let me thank you, Mr. President, for this initiative and for this debate. I can assure you that I will do our utmost to live up to the expectations expressed today.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I can only continue to urge that political, economic and other support be given to the elected representatives of Montenegro. That is important in order to increase the possibilities for them to pursue the not entirely easy balancing of different interests, which they have so far done successfully and which has made a contribution to stability and democracy that has been highly appreciated by the international community. Finally, let me underline what I think is the absolutely crucial importance of a continued dialogue on these issues within the Council.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“That monastery, where the mortars are coming down close to the church and close to the monks, is a treasure of Orthodox culture in Europe. Of course, we must do everything we can to counter that sort of violence. I have been asked by several speakers to comment further about the situation in and around and concerning Montenegro. Let me just repeat what I said in late February and again today: the federal authorities in Belgrade that have, in my opinion - and I think that is very clear - been abusing their power and the elected representatives of the Republic of Montenegro are on a slow but steady collision course. Unless we or they or changes can alter these trends, that collision will occur, with negative consequences. What we can do, of course, is to highlight the problems that are there from the side of the United Nations.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I also note the concerns that have been expressed about the human rights situation in Kosovo. I think all present are aware, and it has been expressed by most of the speakers, that both the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the international security presence in terms of the Kosovo Force are doing their utmost to safeguard the human rights of each and every person. The fact that they do not always succeed is not due to their not trying, and I think it is important to recognize this. This is continuing, and it is disturbing. I just read a report that came in a couple of hours ago about what happened very early yesterday morning when six mortar grenades landed within the premises of the very old Orthodox monastery of Decani in southern Kosovo.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Let me just, in terms of Kosovo, stress one note regarding the concern that has been expressed by several members of the Council about the need to find out the fate of persons who are missing as a result of that conflict. A lot of them- most of them - are of Albanian origin, and there are also those of other origins - Serb or others. We must press forward to find out as much as we can about their fate. But let me also take this occasion to recall that there are still thousands of people missing as a result of the conflicts in Bosnia and Croatia. We must not cease international efforts to find out as much as we can about the fate of those missing. That is important, not only for the families of those concerned, but also for the long-term efforts at reconciliation.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I have noted with satisfaction the strong support that has been expressed for the efforts and the approach of the United Nations, from Ambassador Holbrooke of the United States and from Ukraine, just to take two examples of nations that, on some of the other issues that have under discussion today, have taken somewhat divergent approaches. But the support both of them have expressed, as well as others, is, of course, something that we will carry forward in our work. At this late hour I will not take up all of the different issues. A lot of them will be addressed in the course of the regular briefings that are given by the Secretariat to the Council on the different peacekeeping missions in the area.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I think we have also been able to listen to constructive and forward-looking interventions by the representatives of Slovenia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria in which they have all, from their respective points of view, highlighted both their respective problems in their respective parts of the region and the need for that regional approach, that search for a more comprehensive political solution within the framework of Europe. This was, indeed, the centrepiece of my intervention; and, ifI may say so, it was indeed that of the intervention of Mr. Javier Solana on behalf of the European Union.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The fact not only that they can sit together, but that they can also speak together in front of the United Nations Security Council~ certainly not pretending that everything is over, or that there are not any problems - I think that, more than anything else, demonstrates, in spite of all the difficulties in the region, that there is a way forward - not an easy one, not a fast one, but there is a way forward. I also express my personal thanks for their respective contributions.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Mr. Bildt: I think the main conclusion to be drawn after all these hours is that your initiative to organize this debate, Mr. President, has been not only highly valuable but also highly valued by all who have taken part and by all of us who have been able to benefit from listening to the different interventions that have highlighted both the problems that are there and the possibilities for moving forward that I think we see. On a somewhat more personal note, let me start by expressing my appreciation for the intervention of the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because I know both Muhamed Sacirbey and Milos Prica as old friends of mine, but certainly not friends of each other. They were truly enemies on two sides of what was the bitterest war in Europe during the second part of the last century.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164Resumption1 (2000) · source
“We thus not only have an interest in creating the conditions for the success of the present United Nations missions in Kosovo and in Bosnia; we have a strong interest in assisting a region where the peace is kept by others to become a region where the peace is kept by the region itself. But we must all recognize that we have a long way to go.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“The forces of disintegration in the region will finally be overcome only on the day when the full conditions exist for them to be subject to the forces of integration in Europe as a whole. Then we can achieve not only self-sustaining stability, but also the conditions for self-sustaining economic growth in the region, without which we will not overcome the horrible legacy of the many years of war, of destruction, of sanctions and ofisolation. With the exception of the Middle East, there has been no other region of the world, throughout the history of the United Nations, where so many peace operations have been deemed necessary as the region south of Slovenia and north of Greece.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“And there will have to be local elections in Serbia as well as federal elections in Yugoslavia; although it is difficult to see that these will be free and fair, they could nevertheless represent an opportunity for the people of Serbia and Yugoslavia to make their voices heard. Their choice is between isolation and integration. There are possibilities for positive change, but also for disruptive conflicts, in several of these elections. I believe that the message that the international community sends will be important for all of them. Here, the position of the European Union is obviously of particular importance. I firmly believe that it is in paving the way for integration into Europe that we must seek the long-term solutions to the issues of the region.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“The dialogue with, and within, the Council is thus an essential part of creating that consensus that will make us ready to move towards a comprehensive political settlement when the conditions for it are in place. This is a year of important elections in the region. The Croatian parliamentary and presidential elections are behind us; so are the Bosnian local elections and the local elections in part of Montenegro. Ahead of us are further important elections. We are moving, as I mentioned, towards local elections in Kosovo, and there will also be local- and fiercely contested- elections in adjoining Albania and in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. There will later on be parliamentary elections in Bosnia.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“I see all of these issues coming together at some point in time in a comprehensive regional settlement of the outstanding political issues. Such a settlement will not only pave the way for the full and speedy reintegration of a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into the region; it will also be even more important for the entry of the region into the process of integration with the rest of Europe and with the international community. Such a comprehensive political settlement will not be possible if we do not have a consensus in the international community, reflected in the Security Council, on what we are trying to assist the region to achieve. And it will not be possible if there is not a recognition that a true deal for true peace must meet the minimum demands of everyone but is unlikely to meet the maximum demands of anyone.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“We are trying to strengthen the former - and let me note the positive political changes in Croatia - and to dampen the latter: let me note the rise of organized crime in large parts of the region. But as long as the core issues of the core conflicts are open, the danger of the forces of disintegration driving the region into new conflict will always be there. And there are numerous open political issues apart from those connected with the unsustainability of the present Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The issue of the Prevlaka peninsula is small but significant. The succession negotiations have been ongoing for nearly 10 years without any result whatsoever. And there are issues connected with the establishment of full, normal relations among all States in the region that have not yet been solved.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“And the sooner the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its entire political system see the logic of this, the sooner we can all work together to create self-sustaining structures - within its borders as well - as part of the search for self-sustaining stability in the region as a whole. We cannot wait too long. We know from bitter experience that as long as there is a feeling that arrangements are not final and that core issues remain open, tensions are likely to persist and there will be the ever-present risk that the forces of nationalism, of revanchism and of revolt will surface again with devastating consequences. That is the situation we are in today. There are certainly positive as well as negative trends in the region.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“We are undoubtedly handicapped in our search for peace by the fact that key persons in key public positions in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are refusing to respect indictments that have been issued by the International Tribunal, thus creating a situation where we cannot deal with them. This situation is dangerous primarily for the Federal Republic itself, but also, of course, for the wider region. I believe it is important to recall that in the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia subscribed to the position that persons indicted by the Tribunal and not cooperating with it cannot hold public office. What we are demanding of them today is thus no more than what they themselves have previously agreed to demand of others as part of the search for peace in the region.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“If we do not recognize this and try to pave the way for sustainable solutions, there is an obvious risk of further conflict and disintegration with potentially grave consequences for the region as a whole. When I go around the region, I note that most of its leaders see the continued territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as important both for wider regional stability and for the internal stability of the different countries. They are alarmed by the present situation in Yugoslavia, but they do not favour a further disintegration ofthe region.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“They are today on a slow but steady course towards a collision. This might not be imminent, but the trends are very clearly there. I believe that it is of key importance that we all give support to the elected authorities in Montenegro in their efforts to pave the way for the new deal which they are seeking. Added to this acute constitutional crisis, there is, of course, also the unresolved issue of the future status of Kosovo. Although on paper still an integral part of the Republic of Serbia, the reality is different. I fail to see any circumstances under which a peace agreement will not have to include a clear constitutional separation between the two. Thus, we have a situation where the present structures of the present Yugoslavia are unsustainable.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“The elected leaders of Bosnia must take action on this. If we broaden our horizon from Kosovo and Bosnia, I believe that the most pressing issue in the region is the question of the future of the present Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. We cannot have self- sustaining stability in the region if we do not have self- sustaining stability in its different parts. In this respect, the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia gives cause for concern. In my opinion, the present structures ofthe present Yugoslavia are unsustainable. This is primarily due to the acute constitutional crisis between the Republic of Montenegro and the Federal authorities in Belgrade, where the federal institutions of Yugoslavia have been grossly misused in order also to exclude the representatives of the elected authorities of Montenegro.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“In Bosnia, the international efforts are now focused on the three priorities of the High Representative: accelerated minority returns, functioning common institutions and the necessity of economic reforms. Let me also note the particular importance ofthe latter. For far too long, far too little has been done in Bosnia in this respect. We are now faced with an aid- dependent economy in a situation where aid is starting to decline, with the result that a severe economic and social crisis might be unavoidable. This will threaten the future of the country. We will press on with minority returns. But in the absence of a functioning economy there is a risk that Bosnia could become a country where the old return to end their days where they were born, but the young leave because they do not see prospects for the future.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“There is still far more of the rule of thugs than the rule of law. Although the local Kosovo Albanian leadership has condemned acts of violence, there is still a climate oftolerance ofterror that we must never accept. This can never be an argument for giving up or postponing our efforts to develop the structures of self- government and autonomy. On the contrary, in the long run - and it might indeed be a long one - there is no other way. The elected representatives of Kosovo will soon learn that neither Europe nor the rest of the international community will accept a political system that does not clearly address issues of human rights and the protection of minorities.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“Such stability is hardly achievable in the long run if there is not a stable structure for the region as a whole - and I would add, without a firm place for the region in the wider process and the wider structures of European integration. Only thus will a self-sustaining stability be possible. In Kosovo, the Council has been recently informed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kouchner, of the efforts under way to move towards the setting up of structures of self-government and substantial autonomy. I consider this to be of critical importance for wider stability in the region also. But these efforts are undertaken - let us be clear on this- in a climate that is far from satisfactory in a number of respects. There is a climate of terror against minorities in Kosovo, primarily the Serb one, and this is repulsive.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“Today, most of our attention is focussed on Bosnia, where we are making slow but steady progress with the implementation of the 1995 Dayton/Paris Peace Agreement, and Kosovo, where the United Nations, in the absence of a proper peace agreement, is engaged in one of its most demanding and difficult missions ever. But the region is larger than this. It can be argued the Bosnia and Kosovo are just the most acute fracture zones where the different national agendas of the regions most clearly meet. I am stressing this in order to underline that we will never succeed in either Kosovo or Bosnia if we fail in the wider region south of Slovenia and north of Greece. Stability in Kosovo and in Bosnia is obviously vital for the region.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“But historical experience equally shows that whenever the political framework of the region is, or is seen as, unclear, fragile or open, there tends to develop a cycle of fears on the one hand and expectations on the other, often driven by extremists, nearly always resulting in conflict, in war and in massive violations of human rights. This was the case during the slow collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Again it was the case during the inter-ethnic and national carnage in the area during the Second World War and, once again, this has been the case over and over again since the early 19905.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“This is the reality of the situation in the region today. Self-sustaining stability can be achieved only when a firm political framework has been established for the region as a whole. This will be the case only when the different national and other communities in the area have accepted such a political framework and when it has also been fully recognized by the international community at the end of the day under the auspices ofthis Council. Historical experience shows that when such a firm framework is in place the peoples and the nations of the region can live peacefully together in the same way as in other parts of Europe or, indeed, the world.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“When I spoke in this Chamber in late February, I noted the high priority that has been given to this by the international community ever since the start ofthe dissolution of the old Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the early 19905. I also then noted that we are far from the goals that we have set. Looking only at the United Nations, we now have no fewer than three peacekeeping operations in the area. There have previously been four other large United Nations missions. The wider international community has approximately a quarter of a million young men and women in uniform either serving in peace operations, just having come out of such operations or actively preparing to go into them. And we know that if these troops were to be withdrawn today there would, in all probability, be war tomorrow.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“Mr. Bildt: Let me start by expressing my appreciation for this opportunity to come back to the Council on the important issue of the search for self- sustaining stability in the Balkans. Let me also express my appreciation for the opportunity to do this when the High Representative for the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy, Mr. Javier Solana, will also be addressing the Council on these same issues. In very many ways, the efforts of the United Nations and the European Union in that region are complementary, and this discussion here today demonstrates this. The search for self-sustaining stability in that part of Europe is certainly not a new one.”
2000-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4164 (2000) · source
“We must be ready to start to consider within the framework of this Council how we can move forward with the political agenda leading to a peace settlement for Kosovo, while remaining aware of the fact that as long as we have the situation in Belgrade, such progress is going to be virtually impossible. But that should not stop our efforts. Then, perhaps we can continue with the work that was started in the early part of the 1990s, in which several of us around the table were active. There is a need to recognize that we have done a number of things, but there is also a long ways to go until we can say that we have self- sustaining stability in this war-torn part of Europe.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“That brings me finally to what might be one of my key points for my presentation: that while we did achieve, in 1995, in Bosnia, a peace agreement that set the rules for the internal structure of Bosnia after the war, as well as the external position of Bosnia in the region, we do not have that in the case of Kosovo. This makes the situation of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the task particularly difficult. It makes it particularly difficult to move forward with a regional agenda for seeking self-sustaining structures of stability.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I was particularly disappointed when the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina a couple of weeks ago refused even to consider the draft for election laws that are necessary in order to build a functioning common State and common society. But that notwithstanding, progress is being made. And I would very much like to support the comments by Ambassador Holbrooke on Mostar, on the role that can be played by the new political leadership in Croatia in order to overcome that particularly difficult aspect of the problems in Bosnia. If we can make progress on this issue, I think we can further progress on all of the other Bosnian issues.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Finally, some words about Bosnia, which brings me to Ambassador Holbrooke and his kind words, starting with Georgetown, which might be somewhat outside the scope of the Security Council. I think both he and myself have a particular emotional attachment to that country and what he managed to achieve in 1995. I was fortunate enough to play a small role in that particular process. I think it is worth stressing that, although that is a very ambitious peace agreement, there are major problems in Bosnia. We are making progress. It is of course slower than some of us would like, but there is progress. I would have liked to see a greater sense of responsibility shown by the leaders of Bosnia itself.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“It is not entirely certain that everyone who has been expelled or driven away wants to return to the places where these horrible events happened. But if we refuse people the right to return, we create a difficult situation for the future. People who are refused the right to return become a reservoir of revenge in the future in the region. This is detrimental to the region's political stability. In this regard, within the framework of the Stability Pact, the Humanitarian Issues Working Group - which has been in operation since the early 1990s, under the leadership of Mrs. Ogata - is continuing its work. We are discussing with the Stability Pact different ways of further integrating this Working Group's efforts into the work of economic aid and conditionality and so forth.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I know that efforts are under way by the European Union, by the United States of America and others. There is a need to do more. The United Nations system - the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - is very active in terms of providing humanitarian assistance to all those who are in need of it in Montenegro. And due to the political and other circumstances, that is quite a number of people. Several of the speakers - the representatives of Malaysia, Tunisia, Namibia, the Netherlands - have highlighted the issue of the return of refugees. I cannot stress too strongly how important this is, in my opinion - and not only for the obvious humanitarian reason, but also, I would say, in terms of the future political stability of the region.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“These are moves that are in no way compatible with the federal constitution of Yugoslavia. They serve to aggravate a situation between Serbia and Montenegro to which it should be in the interest of all friends of Yugoslavia to try to seek a solution. These are not only concerns in terms of the stability of the region, but also, in my view, a threat to the survival of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I was asked what can be done to provide help and support. Obviously one thing that can be done is to highlight what is happening and highlight the concerns of the international community, because these actions do have regional implications. Another is of course to be willing and able to extend financial help to the authorities of Montenegro, who are, as I pointed out, subject to sort of double sanctions, in a way that is unfortunate.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Ibelieve it is moving in the wrong direction marginally faster than I would have anticipated a couple of weeks ago. The reason is the moves we see on the ground by Milosevic in terms of building up forces and building up capabilities for direct intervention. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that he is actively creating the preconditions for exercising that option. We have seen him creating special so-called military police units that are obviously recruited on the basis of political loyalty and that are now deployed at critical points throughout Montenegro. We have seen him setting up a special and separate television network in Montenegro, installed by military forces on military installations in order to be the propaganda arm of any overt intervention.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“But we can only regret the fact that Yugoslavia has excluded itself to a very large extent, first, by retaining among its leaders those who have been indicted by the International Tribunal for crimes against humanity - and it has been our policy in the past, and I think it must remain our policy in the future, not to have any dealings with such personalities. And it has also made life somewhat more difficult for itself by not undertaking the reforms that are necessary in order to have a functioning democratic life and a functioning economy. This is a dilemma for the international community, but it is a major problem for Serbia and a major problem for the region. The situation in Montenegro was alluded to by several representatives. Let me just state that I am very concerned about the situation as it is developing.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I say "deliberately corrupt" because there is a risk of them setting up structures which are really meant to fund the regime rather than to help the people. We must, of course, be on our guard there, not only for political reasons but also for the simple reason that we want our money to reach the ordinary people and not be a funding mechanism for a regime that has difficulties funding itself in other ways. I do not think there is any solution to the political or economic problems of the region without Yugoslavia and without Serbia. We want Serbia, and we want Yugoslavia, as part of this.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“And there are quite a number of people who are in a rather desperate situation in Serbia. I think it was the representative of the Russian Federation who referred to the fact that this might well be the largest refugee community that we have in Europe; and they are in a country which might well be the poorest country in Europe by now, after not only the consequences of war but also the total absence of any sort of reform process have brought that country down so desperately. So the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies are keen to help. But we are there to help the people, not to fund the regime. That distinction is important, and it also requires vigilance on our part, because the structures of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and of Serbia are to some extent deliberately corrupt.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“So there is a need for reform; there is a need for reconciliation; and there is a need for reintegration. That is part of the approach of the Stability Pact. That being said, I am convinced that when we move forward towards a political settlement for the region there is a need to do something that goes beyond what is at present on the table. There is a need for a structure that, in its scope, in its firmness and in its perspective to the future, goes beyond what we have had on the table so far. Concerning the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia, I think it was the representative of Canada who said that the United Nations was walking a delicate line. That was the understatement of the day, I guess. It is a very complex problem. On the one hand, we have a concern for the ordinary human beings; we want to help people in need.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Let me also stress that it is not primarily a question of the reconstruction of the region after the devastating wars there. I normally refer, as I did in my presentation today, to the three Rs that I consider essential. The first is reform; these countries all, to a greater or a lesser degree, need substantial economic and political reform. The second is reconciliation, that very, very difficult concept and that very, very difficult word that is absolutely essential for moving forward after war. And the third is reintegration; that is necessary not only for political reasons, but also for plain economic reasons: there is no way in which we can ever revive the economies of these countries if we do not allow the trade flows and the commercial contacts and the integration to be there.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I have been trying to facilitate the support of the United Nations system for the efforts of the Stability Pact. We are now heading towards a couple of important meetings; I think it was the representative of the Netherlands who referred to the funding conference that is coming up at the end of March. But let me say, concerning the Stability Pact - and these are words that I know are very much supported by its Special Coordinator, Mr. Bodo Hombach, who is responsible for it - that the Pact is a two-way process. It takes two to tango. It is not a funding mechanism for projects in the countries of the region. It is also an undertaking and a commitment by the countries of the region that they themselves will take initiatives to start to cooperate. For the one to work requires that the other work as well; that is essential.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Let me say, as I think I indicated at the beginning, that the regional approach to the issues is one that has been there with the United Nations system from the very beginning, especially coming out of the fact that the United Nations system was called upon early in the 1990s to deal with the humanitarian consequences of these different wars. And they are indeed regional by nature: there is no way in which you can deal with these issues taking them piece by piece; you need to deal with the region. So we have been advocating a regional approach from the very start. The launch last summer of the Stability Pact, an initiative of the European Union and supported by the other major Powers, was a recognition by the international community of the fact that you cannot deal with the countries in isolation; you have to deal with the entire region.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“But I would just like to reinforce what I said: that Kosovo is a difficult but small place within a region that is unstable. The task that has been given to the United Nations in running Kosovo de facto is complicated not only by the fact that there is no peace agreement but also by the instabilities in the region, notably - as referred to by several speakers - the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in Serbia. The representative of the Russian Federation raised a number of issues that had to do with the wider approach in the region: the coordination of the different attempts under way, as well as the way in which we deal with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and with Serbia.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Mr. Bildt: I have been listening with keen interest to the comments of members, and I will try to answer all or most of the questions that have been put. I note with deep satisfaction that there is widespread support for the ambitions and the efforts that are under way to set up structures of self-sustaining stability in the region, but also an understanding that we are not there yet, to put it very mildly - that there are major challenges ahead and that this is going to be a difficult time. A number of speakers referred to the situation in Kosovo. I am not going to go into the details of that; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Bernard Kouchner, and General Reinhardt will be here next week, and, as Ambassador Holbrooke said, the Council will have an important meeting on the details of Kosovo.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105Resumption1 (2000) · source
“If the latter are allowed to have the upper hand for long enough, we will see tensions building up even more, bringing further conflicts, and perhaps even paving the way for conflicts every bit as brutal as those we have already witnessed. We are thus faced with a complex situation in the region. There are positive developments. The political changes in Croatia certainly count very prominently among those and, in spite of all of the difficulties that we are facing and the Council is familiar with, we are also making progress in Bosnia. But overall, we are still far from achieving the self-sustaining stability which we have been seeking for the past decade and about which all the individuals of the different countries of the region, irrespective of belief, origin or creed, are dreaming.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105 (2000) · source
“We certainly want to build democracy and civil society in the entire region and in all of these countries, but this will not be enough to make all of these other issues go away. Nationalism and democracy are not necessarily incompatible. We must be aware of the tensions that are there along the fault lines between these wider interests. We see them on an almost daily basis in Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. And we must not pretend that we cannot recognize those extremists groups or individuals on both sides who are determined to exploit these tensions to the full along all of the fault lines, be they in northern Kosovo, be they in southern Serbia, as we are also seeing, or be they perhaps even in Macedonia. Again, we are dealing with the clash between the forces of integration and the forces of disintegration in the region.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105 (2000) · source
“From the other side, they face the de facto sanctions against them from Serbia, forcing them - to take just one example - to rely on expensive food imports from abroad. I believe that, in the interests of stability, we must all accelerate our efforts to give them help in this particularly difficult situation. The confrontation between Montenegro and Serbia is a confrontation over the future of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As such, it has obvious implications for the way in which Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) can one day be fully implemented. A regional settlement is hardly possible until key questions of the future shape of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been settled. Such a regional settlement will have to balance the wider interests of the Serbs or other Slavs with those of the Albanians in the region.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105 (2000) · source
“As long as there is no change of regime in Belgrade, these two republics of Yugoslavia are set on a somewhat slow but very steady collision course. President Milosevic has grossly misused the federal institutions and grossly violated the rights of Montenegro within that federation. That the leadership of Montenegro has not reacted to these violations by seceding outright, but proposed instead a reformed relationship between Serbia and Montenegro is an indication of responsibility and statesmanship that should not go unrewarded. The position of Montenegro is difficult in a number of respects. In a way, we can say that it suffers from double sanctions. From one side, Montenegrans suffer from the sanctions against all of Yugoslavia, which block their access to the international financial institutions.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105 (2000) · source
“We are thus, in a certain sense, in a situation in which many of our efforts in the region can be seen as little more than a big holding operation until change in Serbia opens up the prospect of moving forward with a proper peace process as well as with the wider regional agenda of reform, reconciliation and reintegration. But simply to sit and wait is not enough. If we do that, we might well be faced with further conflicts. We must actively seek change; we must meet the provocations that are there and will come later; and we must actively try to prevent existing tensions from boiling over into open conflict. Let me, in this context, mention in particular the situation between Serbia and Montenegro.”
2000-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4105 (2000) · source