BRUSSELS, March 29 (Hina) - European Commission Member Chris Patten believes that, judging from its good start, a Regional Funding Conference on Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, which is being held in Brussels, can help collect
between 1.7 and 1.8 billion euro for financing infrastructure projects, evaluated and proposed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). During his speech Croatia's Foreign Minister Tonino Picula delivered at the conference on Wednesday morning, the Croatian diplomat accentuated that Zagreb would need substantial financial assistance of 55.6 million dollars from the international community to create conditions for the return of 16,500 Croatian citizens, who are now refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro). Picula expected that this project which Zagreb would implement in cooperation with the UNHCR could get, in some form, the backing at th
BRUSSELS, March 29 (Hina) - European Commission Member Chris Patten
believes that, judging from its good start, a Regional Funding
Conference on Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, which is
being held in Brussels, can help collect between 1.7 and 1.8 billion
euro for financing infrastructure projects, evaluated and proposed
by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
During his speech Croatia's Foreign Minister Tonino Picula
delivered at the conference on Wednesday morning, the Croatian
diplomat accentuated that Zagreb would need substantial financial
assistance of 55.6 million dollars from the international
community to create conditions for the return of 16,500 Croatian
citizens, who are now refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro).
Picula expected that this project which Zagreb would implement in
cooperation with the UNHCR could get, in some form, the backing at
the Brussels funding conference, although there had had no time for
considering this plan during preparations for the Brussels event.
Quick-start projects, which this conference is discussing in order
to attract donors or favourable financial arrangements for their
implementations, have been chosen from proposals given by
Stability Pact member-states last October.
I believe, however, that this conference will recognise the
importance of our project for the refugee return, Picula told
Croatian reporters in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.
During Wednesday morning Picula addressed the participants in the
political part of the regional funding conference. Besides, on
Wednesday morning speeches were held by ministers of Albania,
Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania, who are leading their
countries' delegations.
The conference's co-chairmen, Chris Patten on behalf of the
European Commission, and James D. Wolfensohn, the World Bank's
President, as well as Stability Pact Co-ordinator Bodo Hombach,
told reporters that this conference would centre on programmes the
implementation of which can start immediately or no later than one
year.
They added short-term and medium-term projects would be topics of
the following financial conference of the Stability Pact.
Patten, European Commissioner for foreign affairs, said the
European Commission had earmarked 530 million euro for quick-start
projects. He expects that approximately the same sum could be
ensured through bilateral arrangements from individual member-
states of the EU.
He announced that at the coming meeting of the EU Council of
Ministers in April, he would propose a plan of "asymmetric
liberalisation" of the trade with southeastern European countries
and on this head of states and governments decided on principle
during the recent EU summit in Lisbon.
According to this EU official, such new advantages for the import of
goods from southeastern European countries could be sought perhaps
in steel industry, textile and clothing industry and some
agricultural products, where currently there is a difficult
approach to the EU market. EU is now importing 80 percent of the
industrial commodities without paying tariffs from those
countries, including Croatia.
(hina) jn ms