EU Warns Kosovo Risks Losing Aid
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:23 a.m. ET
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) -- European Union officials at a regional summit warned that continued fighting in southern Serbia could dry up international aid to Kosovo, while Balkan leaders demanded an immediate end to the violence.
The clashes between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces in the Presevo Valley region monopolized discussions on Friday among leaders from Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Yugoslavia. A representative from Croatia also attended.
The harshest warnings came from senior EU officials, who said the fighting and attacks in Kosovo -- including a bus bombing last week that killed at least 10 Serbs -- could stop the flow of money and torpedo ethnic Albanian desires for increased autonomy.
``The people of Kosovo need a wake up call too, because it is the whole of Kosovo that risks paying -- literally and figuratively -- if this barbarism carries on,'' said Christopher Patten, the EU foreign affairs commissioner.
He said the EU had committed funds for schools and infrastructure works ``but this violence must stop.''
The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, also warned ethnic Albanian leaders to take action to stop ``this senseless violence.''
``Otherwise, some members of the international community will raise unpleasant but valid questions about whether Kosovars are ready for substantial autonomy,'' he said.
Bodo Hombach, special coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, agreed that continued violence could have influence donor nations and international investment.
``There are a few mad people for whom conflict is more important than economic prosperity,'' Hombach said.
In stark contrast to the celebratory mood when Yugoslavia attended of a previous Balkan summit four months ago, the situation in southern Serbia smothered talks on increased economic cooperation and efforts to bring the region closer to the EU after a decade of wars.
In their declaration, Presidents and prime ministers ``demanded an immediate and complete cessation'' of violence in Presevo, which they said posed a direct and immediate threat to regional stability.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica urged the international community to stop talking and take ``energetic steps'' to stop the violence, including the abolition of a buffer zone bordering Kosovo where much of the fighting is taking place. NATO is said to be considering the plan.
``It is no longer a security zone, but merely a base for terrorist activity and the major source of the threat,'' he said.