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Security Council

Fifty-fourth year

around 440,000 people, more than one fifth of the population of Kosovo, have fled or been displaced. There are new victims every day. The civilian population is the target of the hostilities.

"The international community has done its utmost to find a peaceful solution to the Kosovo conflict. In Rambouillet, and most recently in Paris, intensive efforts have been made, after months of preparations, to negotiate an agreement for the self-government of Kosovo which is fair for both parties to the conflict and which would ensure a peaceful future for Kosovo Serbs as well as Kosovo Albanians and all other national communities. The draft agreement, which was signed by the Kosovo Albanians in Paris, meets these requirements on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. It assures Kosovo a high degree of self-government, guarantees the individual human rights of all citizens in Kosovo according to the highest European standards, envisages extensive rights for all national communities living in Kosovo and creates the basis for the necessary reconstruction of the war-torn region.

"The Yugoslav leadership under President Milosevic has persistently refused to engage seriously in the search for a political solution. It has presented the Yugoslav people with a distorted picture of the issues and course of the negotiations."

I might add that we have also witnessed that tonight in this Chamber.

"In addition, the Serb police and Yugoslav Federal Armed Forces have in the last few weeks massively reinforced their presence in Kosovo, thereby further exceeding the ceilings set out in the Holbrooke-Milosevic agreement of 12 October 1998. Finally, the Yugoslav security forces are conducting military operations against the civilian population m Kosovo in contravention of the provisions of United Nations Security Council resolution 1199 (1998).

"On the threshold of the 21st century, Europe cannot tolerate a humanitarian catastrophe in its midst. It cannot be permitted that, in the middle of Europe, the predominant population of Kosovo is collectively deprived of its rights and subjected to grave human rights abuses. We, the countries of the European Union, are under a moral obligation to ensure that indiscriminate behaviour and violence, which became tangible in the massacre of Racak in January 1999, are not repeated. We have a duty to ensure the return to their homes of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons. Aggression must not be rewarded. An aggressor must know that he will have to pay a high price. This is the lesson to be learned from the 20th century.

"Nor will the international community tolerate crimes against humanity. Those now persisting with the conflict in Kosovo should not forget that the mandate of The Hague Tribunal covers Kosovo. They and their leaders will be held personally accountable for their actions.

"We are ultimately responsible for securing peace and cooperation in the region which will guarantee the respect of our basic European values, ie., the respect of human and minority rights, international law, democratic institutions and the inviolability of borders.

"Our policy is directed against neither the Yugoslav or Serb population nor against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the Republic of Serbia. It is directed against the irresponsible policy of the Yugoslav leadership. It is directed against security forces cynically and brutally fighting a part of their own population. We want to put an end to these outrages. President Milosevic must stop Serb aggression in Kosovo and sign the Rambouillet Accords, which include a NATO-led implementation force to provide stability.

"We urge the Yugoslav leadership under President Milosevic to summon up the courage at this juncture to change radically its own policy. It is not yet too late to stop the internal repression and to accept the international community’s mediation efforts. The international community's only objective is to find a political future for Kosovo, on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which does justice to the concerns and aspirations of all the people in Kosovo.

"The Kosovo Albanians showed their commitment to a peaceful solution by signing the Rambouillet Accords. It is vital that they now show maximum restraint. 17