Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – I’m very pleased to welcome to Paris my opposite number from Serbia and Montenegro, Vuk Draskovic, with whom we have regular consultations on matters relating to the Balkans.

We talked about the sensitive issue of Kosovo. I reiterated to Mr Draskovic France’s total support for the negotiation process currently being led by Mr Ahtisaari. Indeed, we continue to advocate a negotiated solution capable of ensuring lasting stability for all Kosovo’s ethnic components, and for the Balkan region. This is also why we think the process has to be conducted as swiftly as possible.

On the specific point of the status, you are familiar with the principles laid down by the Contact Group. In our view it has to reconcile as best as possible the Kosovo Serb community’s rights with the Kosovo Albanian population’s aspirations to take control of their destiny. This is the vital objective of the ongoing discussions, particularly on decentralization, and we’re again calling on the parties to be realistic and work in a spirit of compromise.

I have also stressed to Mr Draskovic – who, I know, totally agrees on this – the urgent need for Serbia to fulfil her obligations vis-à-vis The Hague ICTY. Commitments were made on handing Mladic over to the courts, these must be honoured. At stake is Serbia and Montenegro’s future in Europe.

Obviously, for us, there is no doubt about Serbia and Montenegro’s destiny to join the European family. It is up to her to show that she’s ready to accept wholeheartedly all the European Union’s values.

Finally, we’ve just this moment signed a readmission agreement between our two countries. It’s an important stage in the complete normalization of our relations. This agreement will allow us to envisage greater flexibility with respect to visas.

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Q. – What’s going to happen at the end of the month if, by then, Mladic hasn’t been handed over to The Hague?

THE MINISTER – I think it’s very important, for the stabilization and association agreement, but much more so for moral and legal reasons, for Mladic to be handed over to the ICTY. It’s a matter of confidence-building. So this is necessary – Croatia did so in the case of Gotovina – so that we can go on talking about the prospect of Serbia and Montenegro’s European prospects.

I’d also like here today to thank Vuk Draskovic for his strong defence of this argument./.