5-6 September General Affairs Informal

Date: 10/09/1998

EU FOREIGN ministers backed a call by Germany's Klaus Kinkel to send a ministerial 'troika', made up of the foreign ministers of Austria, the UK and Germany, to Russia as soon as a new government has been appointed. A statement agreed by ministers stressed that Russia should continue its reform process as an expression of the country's commitment to democracy, a market economy and integration into the world economy. Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schüssel, who chaired the meeting, drew attention to the EU's sympathy for the Russian people during the crisis and urged Moscow to move towards a 'social market economy' on continental European lines.

MINISTERS rejected a call by Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini to grant Russia a moratorium on its debt. Kinkel warned that existing debts had to be repaid if Germany was to continue making loans to Russia. Joyce Quin, the UK European affairs minister who was standing in for Foreign Minister Robin Cook, announced that her government, currently chairing the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations, had convened a meeting of G7 finance and foreign ministry in London this Saturday (12 September). She said the meeting would “identify” the issues which had to be raised with the Russian government.

ON SUNDAY, ministers agreed on the need for immediate measures to alleviate the suffering of refugees in Kosovo. European Commission Presi-dent Jacques Santer announced that an extra 5 million ecu would be made available under the EU's humanitarian aid programme. Ministers supported French and German calls for the creation of special areas where refugees would be safe from fighting while waiting for a longer-term solution which would allow them to return to their homes. The EU will set up an informal working group to ensure that policy in the area is effectively implemented and sanctions are comprehensive.

SCHÜSSEL stressed, however, that it would not be possible for refugees to begin returning to their homes unless both sides in the conflict - the Serbian authorities and the Kosovo Liberation Army - stopped fighting. He said the EU should consider Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's offer of an interim agreement regarding autonomy for Kosovo, but only if Milosevic guaranteed that there would be no further attacks on civilian targets. Schüssel called for forensic scientists to be given full access to examine the sites of alleged mass graves in Kosovo.

MINISTERS agreed to discuss appointing a special envoy in Kosovo at the next General Affairs Council. Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek said the EU needed a permanent presence in Kosovo. Kinkel said the envoy would play the same role in shuttle diplomacy as the US' special envoy Christopher Hill, but stressed that a detailed brief should be worked out in consultation with Felipe González, who represents the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the region.

VAN Den Broek said the way had been cleared for the EU to agree a ban on landing rights for the Yugoslav national carrier JAT after Greece lifted its objections to the move. This was confirmed in an EU statement issued on Monday (7 September). Full implementation of the ban appeared to be under threat, however, after UK sources revealed that they were forced to give 12 months' notice of any such restriction under the terms of a bilateral agreement with the Yugoslav authorities.

MINISTERS spent four hours discussing how to improve the efficiency of their own Council and agreed a ten-point plan. They were unanimous about the need for better time-management and a clear separation of the GAC's roles in dealing with foreign policy issues and coordinating EU policy. The Council's part in agreeing the Agenda 2000 reforms was stressed. One way to make the GAC more effective would be to divide up meetings into two days: the first dealing with coordination and the second with relations with third countries. It was agreed that not all ministers needed to be present at all meetings, but that formal talks with third countries should be better handled by the troika. To ensure improved coordination of the EU's policy-making by different ministerial Councils, they agreed that all meetings should issue statements specifying whether their decisions were consistent with other policies. The discussion will be continued by ambassadors and will form part of the agenda for the special summit of EU leaders in Pörtschach next month.

MINISTERS endorsed Austria's proposal that candidates for the new post of High Representative for Foreign Policy should submit applications by the middle of next month. A final decision will be taken at December's Vienna summit.