VIENNA/ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) - The efforts of the European Commission are at the top of its priorities in foreign relations, European Commission Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Chris Patten, said Thursday during a session of the
permanent council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. Providing information about the efforts with concrete programs and assistance funds the EU had intended for stabilising countries in the region and their economic and democratic development, he said the European Union at Friday's Zagreb Summit faced a clear task: to accentuate our dedication for this task to be completed and set practical ways of progressing on this path. Recognising the EU's previous failure to stop the violence in the Balkans, Patten stressed the policy of a careful, consistent work on the consolidation and stabilisation of democracy -- primarily in Serbia, has finally paid off.
VIENNA/ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) - The efforts of the European
Commission are at the top of its priorities in foreign relations,
European Commission Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Chris
Patten, said Thursday during a session of the permanent council of
the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in
Vienna.
Providing information about the efforts with concrete programs and
assistance funds the EU had intended for stabilising countries in
the region and their economic and democratic development, he said
the European Union at Friday's Zagreb Summit faced a clear task: to
accentuate our dedication for this task to be completed and set
practical ways of progressing on this path.
Recognising the EU's previous failure to stop the violence in the
Balkans, Patten stressed the policy of a careful, consistent work
on the consolidation and stabilisation of democracy -- primarily in
Serbia, has finally paid off.
This makes it possible for relations between the EU and the region
from crisis management, basic reconstruction to progress to the
creation of permanent democratic institutions and the rule of law
as the essential preconditions for integration into European
structures.
Patten's speech, given out to reporters, stressed that the EU had
only this year set aside 800 million euros for assistance to
countries in the region, while in the next six years, according to
the recently adopted CARDS programme, the assistance should amount
to 4.65 billion euros.
(hina) lml jn