Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – I'm very pleased the Austrian presidency invited me to this informal meeting. Indeed, as you know, 2006 will be very important for this region with, in particular, the questions of Kosovo's status and, of course, the referendum in Montenegro.

KOSOVO

We began by talking about Kosovo. We had a meeting with Mr Martti Ahtisaari, who updated us on progress in the process following his latest visit to the region and the first meeting on decentralization between representatives from Belgrade and Priština.

We all expressed wholehearted support for his approach which, as you know, focuses firstly on resolving very concrete status-related issues, such as decentralization and the protection of religious sites, before tackling the actual issue of the status itself.

From this point of view, we welcome the continuation of contacts between Belgrade and Priština over the next few weeks.

I reiterated that both parties had to show realism and a spirit of compromise. I also highlighted the need for the European Union to make concrete preparations to step up its presence in Kosovo for the implementation of the future agreement on the status, particularly as regards the police and rule of law.

MONTENEGRO/BALKANS

After Kosovo we talked about Montenegro. We of course welcome the agreement the government and opposition recently reached on the conditions for organizing the referendum thanks to the mission of Mr Lajcak, Mr Solana's personal representative in this matter.

We now expect the different parties' commitments to be honoured. Secondly, we welcomed the Balkan countries' foreign ministers, our meeting with them allowed us to assess how far their countries have come on the road to stability and closer relations with Europe since the Zagreb and Thessaloníki summits.

We also took the opportunity of encouraging them to pursue their efforts in this direction. We of course emphasized the importance of the Western Balkans having the prospect of a future in Europe, but I also stressed that this had to be coordinated with the reflection on the EU's enlargement strategy we are due to have before June, in line with the wishes of the December 2005 European Council. This is, as you know, in order to discuss the European Union's absorptive capacity.

(…)

KOSOVO

THE MINISTER – The best way to respect those who negotiate is first of all to respect the negotiator and so not prejudge the conclusion of the negotiations. To my mind, Mr Martti Ahtisaari is one of the best negotiators one could hope for. Having been to Priština and Belgrade, having met all the parties, having talked at length to Mr Martti Ahtisaari several times, I can assure you that his timetable, his ideas, his way of respecting different parties seems to us to be sound.

SERBIA/MONTENEGRO/ICTY

THE MINISTER – I hope you're not putting the Montenegro referendum, Kosovo's status and the ICTY on the same plane. They're completely different. I'll start with the International Tribunal which is absolutely fundamental. There's no question, at any rate for my generation, of thinking for a single moment that there can be even a slim prospect of a European future without perfect collaboration on the part of the Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian governments. As regards the ICTY, Mr Karadzic has to be arrested and handed over to The Hague. Mr Mladic must be arrested and handed over to The Hague. Today the Serbs have prospects, but heavy responsibilities too, which they can accept to the extent that they have, indeed, quid pro quos.

I believe, today, that if you look at Montenegro, from the constitutional angle, if you look at what the Montenegro elected representatives think, on the whole, there's a strong majority for democracy. What is indeed necessary is for there to be excellent relations between the two capitals.

KOSOVO

Secondly, on Kosovo – I'm not prejudging here – I can assure you that the international community, particularly France, will demand respect for the Serb minorities, for Serbian cultural and religious heritages. I want to tell you that if these reforms are carried out, if there is perfect collaboration with the ICTY, a European future for Serbia will be that much easier to achieve.

(…)

BULGARIA/ROMANIA/EU

If on 16 May the Commission recommends their accession, would this be ratified during the year?

THE MINISTER – Very clearly, I'm absolutely convinced that all the EU countries will be very happy to have Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union. It's a good thing for us. Simply, I believe there's no point in setting criteria and asking the Commission to produce reports if we don't follow its advice. For the second part of your question, if the Commission announced progress and advised the swift entry of Romania and Bulgaria, France would obviously very swiftly go along with it. France has no problem here. We are very happy and proud to be able to contribute to the entry of Bulgaria and Romania which, I repeat, is a good thing for us. (…)./.