Address
by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe Lord Russell-Johnston
Mr President Trajkovski, Presidents, Friends, Mr President of the Assembly,
Perhaps you will allow
me at the beginning that it is an especial pleasure for me to see my
old friend Stojan Andov aggain occupying such an exalted position: a
vivid memory, from my experience with the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe, is of shaking his hand immediately after the
Macedonian accession had been accepted in the great hemicycle of the
Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg. He is a steady hand and a calming
influence and it is good that he is with us at this time.
We met six months ago, not so far away, and in similar setting. Similar,
I say, because there is a difference. A huge one, even if it concerns
the presence of only one delegation which was not with us at the Parliamentary
Summit of the Stability Pact in Zagreb last September, but is here today.
At that time, one member of that delegation, Dragoljub Micunovic, was
a dissident, fighting an uphill battle, together with his colleagues,
to put an end to Slobodan Milosevic's grip on power, to put an end to
a regime that kept the people of Serbia in darkness for more than a
decade and caused so much pain and suffering to the other peoples in
the former Yugoslavia.
Today, Dragoljub is here with us as a President of the Chamber of Citizens
of the Federal Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A President
of a new parliament in a new Yugoslavia. The Chairman of the delegation
which enjoys a
special guest status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe.
Six months ago, in all our interventions, there was commitment, but
there
was also frustration. Commitment to carry on with our efforts to foster
peace and stability in the Balkans, but also frustration, because all
these
efforts were all but futile against the regime that was responsible
for four
wars in less than ten years, and had, as it seemed at the time, no intention
to give up power for a long time to come.
Today, much has changed, but too much still stays the same.
There was a change in Belgrade. Thousands of people descended on the
streets
of the Yugoslav capital to say, "Enough is enough". Milosevic
is no longer a
president of Yugoslavia. In his place, there are partners, and friends.
Yet, on the other hand, the reality of today has yet to match the
expectations and the enthusiasm that has been triggered in the region
and in
the world when Milosevic was finally forced to leave his presidential
post.
Most recently, and most dramatically, that became evident here in Macedonia,
a country that had, so far, escaped the violence and horror that has
been,
for so many years, the tragic trademark of the reality in the Balkans.
Macedonia is a country that is fragile; it is a country that has its
tensions.
It is economically weak, socially and ethnically tense. Yet it is also
a
country that had succeeded, so far, through courage, restraint, patience
and determination, to maintain peace and stability and to work, slowly
but consistently, towards resolving its problems and creating a better
life for all its citizens.
Macedonia, in many respects, has become a model, an example to follow.
A
model that needs to be improved, certainly, but also one that is giving
hope
that people of different ethnic origin in the Balkans can live together,
normally, in harmony and mutual respect.
There are some who do not want see this to happen. Certainly, there
are at present great risks, dangerous risks, but I do not believe in
the existence of a major and complicated plot. Rather, I think that
normality would deprive those who thrive and prosper in extreme and
conflict situations from any role and
influence. They need to perpetuate tension in order to maintain their
importance. They must not be allowed to succeed! If they do, the price
will
be huge, and it will be paid in human suffering and perhaps blood. Some
have already paid.
Let us not fool ourselves; this is not a liberation struggle. There
will be
nobody who will be freer, or live better, if violence is allowed to
take its course. Nobody, be they ethnic Albanian, or Macedonian. In
these harsh economic conditions, some may be frustrated and discontent,
they may be unhappy and they may feel that they are unfairly treated.
But whatever adrenalin may be released in watching the neighbour's house
going up in flames, each person should know, that his is most likely
to be next. If there was one message to learn from the wars in the former
Yugoslavia, this was it.
I do not want to sound overly dramatic. The situation is serious, but
I am confident that it will be contained. I trust the people of Macedonia,
all of them, that they will
find in themselves courage and wisdom to act with restraint. In this
they need, and should get, all the support the international community
can provide. I listened to Solana on the TV this morning, saying that
KFOR's control of the border with Kosovo would be improved. Good. Very
good. But very bud that it was necessary to improve it and that incursions
from Kosovo had been allowed to happen in the first place.
Macedonia is a country
that belongs to all its citizens. And it is only together
that they will be able to keep it from following the tragic example
of
others in their immediate neighbourhood.
But it is not only in Macedonia, where the hope of a better future had
to
face the harsh reality that it will take more time, and more effort,
to
overcome the past.
In Kosovo, where the international community intervened to stop a state
sponsored campaign of killing and ethnic cleansing, the oppression
continues. Certainly, at a lower scale, but this is no excuse. Last
autumn,
I visited a monastery in Prizren in which 30 to 40 Serbs, for the most
part
elderly people and children, have been living for almost two years in
total
isolation, protected by German soldiers. If they would venture outside
the gates, to the lively and seemingly normal streets of this beautiful
city, they would be killed. Recently, a bus of Serb civilians was blown
up.
Innocent people, children, were killed. Nothing can justify such barbarity.
For all the suffering to which the Kosovo Albanians have been submitted
to, there is
no excuse for spilling the blood of children.
What enrages me is the
silence. No prominent Kosovo Albanian politicians, or
very, very few, have raised their voice to publicly and forcefully condemn
such acts. By failing to do so, they risk to forfeit their claim to
being in charge of Kosovo. Leadership cannot be sotto voce! It has to
be open and strong, clear and unequivocal…and repeated. The international
community did not intervene to replace one ethnic cleansing with another!
In Yugoslavia also, much, but not enough, has changed.
In October last year, when I welcomed Vojislav Kostunica's achievement,
I said that history would judge him by his success in removing the legacy
of Slobodan Milosevic. Not only of him personally, but of what he represents,
of the policy that has caused so much suffering and taken nearly two
hundred thousand human lives. This legacy has to be removed, completely
and irreversibly. So far, the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
resembles a giant political food processor, in which the country's past
is being ground and mixed with its future. What is coming out is certainly
better than the past has been, but not as good as the future should
be. If it will be good enough, remains to be seen.
The people of Yugoslavia, and its new, democratic leadership, have our
support. Political, economic, human. We want to help and work together.
To
turn the page. Forever.
Facing the past is an inevitable part of this. Those responsible for
crimes,
for Vukovar, Srebrenica, Kosovo, must answer for them. We know who they
are,
we know where they are. Impunity and denial cannot be allowed to continue.
There is no collective guilt, but there is collective responsibility
for
collective silence.
There are also reasons for concern in Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
which we understand.
I may be painting a bleak picture, but if I do it, it is because I believe
that we need to see things as they are. The Balkans are impoverished,
exhausted and traumatised from years of conflict and war. We cannot
pretend
a brighter future is already there just because we need to feel good
about
it, or, even worse, because we want to disengage. I hope you are listening,
President Bush.
The situation is better than it has been six months ago, but it is not
better enough. As long as the Balkans remain poor and divided,
instability will persist.
The Pact for Stability was the right idea, it showed good intentions,
but
good intentions are not enough. The Balkans need help, concrete help,
that will
build bridges and roads and schools, reconstruct factories, support
objective and
professional media, bring foreign investment, create jobs. We have created
many tables. Now we need to put something on them. Because people need
to
eat. If they have nothing to eat, they will fight.
And we can not let this happen. We will not let this happen. Let this
be the
message of this meeting.
