LUXEMBOURG, April 15 (hina) - The European Union foreign minister in Luxembourg on Monday demanded of Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo to remove obstacles to the return of refugees and displaced persons.
LUXEMBOURG, April 15 (hina) - The European Union foreign minister
in Luxembourg on Monday demanded of Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo
to remove obstacles to the return of refugees and displaced
persons.#L#
The Council of Ministers is encouraged with the improvement of
relations among Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo and demands of them
to assume joints responsibility in order to remove obstacles to the
return of refugees and displaced persons, the European Union
Council of Minister said in a statement forwarded to the western
Balkans.
The Council of Minister reminded that over a million persons were
still outside of their pre-war places of residence.
During its regular session in Luxembourg on Monday, the EU Council
of Ministers also discussed a report of the European Commission on
the Stabilisation and Association Process.
The Council of Ministers hailed the European Commission report and
demanded of authorised bodies to prepare recommendations for
future conclusions of the Council, the statement said.
The European Union foreign ministers called upon both Bosnian
entities to adopt constitutional amendments as soon as possible in
line with an agreement on constitutional amendments, drafted by
High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch in cooperation with the
Bosnian ruling coalition, in order to implement a decision of the
Constitutional Court that all three peoples be constituent
throughout the country. The Republika Srpska has already adopted
the constitutional amendments, however, they are not in line with
the agreement.
The Council of Ministers did not support France's proposal that
negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on signing an Association
and Stabilisation Agreement (SAA) begin immediately, spokesman for
the European Commission Gunar Wiegand said.
Based on the European Commission report and in line with an
agreement on the reorganisations of relations between Serbia and
Montenegro and after Belgrade passed a law on cooperation with the
UN war crimes tribunal, France demanded that negotiations on the
SAA with the country begin immediately.
Other member countries and the European Commission, however, did
not support the proposal, Weigand said.
The European Commission believes that conditions for negotiations
on the SAA with Serbia and Montenegro have not yet been created.
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