Statement by the European Council concerning the Kosovo (see under "Latest News") see also Press releases 04/05/99: EPP Chairman Wilfried MARTENS: "The EU and the Kosovo crisis : HORROR VACUI" 15/04/99: Learning the lessons of Kosovo. Tom Spencer MEP 14/04/99: Doris Pack (EVP/CDU):EU-Ratspräsidentschaft soll sich um Ausreise Rugovas aus dem Kosovo bemühen/ Kosovo darf nicht geteilt werden/ EU-Presidency should defend right the Rugova to travel. Kosovo must not be divided 07/04/99: Kosovo: Livio Filippi propone all' Europarlamento di invitare Rugova a Strasburgo 07/04/99: More Western support for Kosovo refugees in the region - fight Milosevic's diabolic plan. Doris Pack MEP 25/03/99: Statement by Wilfried Martens, Chairman of the EPP Group. "Military action has become unavoidable" 10/03/99: West remains too inactive with regard to Kosovo. Doris Pack MEP 10/02/99: Doris Pack MEP: We not miss the last chance for a solution in Kosovo - Involvement of NATO must be maintained.

Resolution adopted by the EPP Council Meeting*
8 April 1999, Brussels

Conflict in Kosovo is not without repercussions for the rest of Europe

The ethnic purge of Kosovo being carried out by Serbian forces - army, special police and paramilitary units - is the expression of a planned long-term genocide and presents the international community with a frightening scenario. The cessation of the NATO bombings depends solely on President Milosevic's change in attitude. His obstinate policy of ethnic cleansing, while rejecting all compromise, rendered NATO intervention inevitable. Indeed the recent Belgrade proposed unilateral cease-fire, while clearly insufficient, should not delude us of his intent. A cease-fire without the perspective of a durable peace is not possible. Therefore the EPP supports the continuation of the NATO Kosovo mission in order to achieve peace. The international community cannot permit that men, women and children can be exiled, tortured and assassinated in the very centre of Europe because of their ethnicity. A possible engagement of troops on the ground, if this is decided, has to assure in the first place the security of the refugees and their return home.

In the past few days we have seen the triggering, in this crisis region, of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. The European Union must take rapid steps in order to ensure that aid for refugees is furnished efficiently. For the EPP, aid to the region itself is an absolute priority in order to ensure that those displaced may all return as quickly as possible to their homes and country. Our emergency aid and support must be particularly directed to Kosovo's neighbouring states such as Albania and Macedonia.

The European People's Party calls on the European Council to take the initiative, as soon as conditions permit, of proposing a comprehensive and generous "Balkan Reconstruction and Stability Plan" to deal with both the immediate refugee and instability problems, as well as the longer-term issues of reconstructing the area and including the Balkans in a wider Europe.

The atrocities unfolding in Kosovo give a clear image of the extent to which peace and freedom remain fragile outside the confines of the EU. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe should be integrated as quickly as possible into the European Union in order to strengthen Europe. The current crisis makes us more than ever conscious of the European Union's need for a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) which is capable of acting. At a time of crisis such as this, Europeans must speak with a single voice and vehemently oppose the perpetrators of genocide. On the eve of the 21st century, the European Union must state clearly that genocide and expulsions be banished definitively from a Europe respectful of human rights.

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*The EPP Council consists of the Chairmen of the EPP member parties or their representatives.