Cook calls for support over sanctions against Serbia

Date: 12/03/1998

By Mark Turner

THE UK presidency will seek EU-wide support for an arms embargo, financial freeze and visa restrictions on Serbia at this weekend's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Edinburgh.

British Minister Robin Cook will ask his EU counterparts to endorse the call for sanctions against Serbia made earlier this week by the Contact Group on former Yugoslavia.

Given the delicate consensus reached by Germany, France, Italy and the UK at the Contact Group meeting, and their support for appointing former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González as a special envoy, it appears unlikely that other Union governments will contest their recommendations.

Following a week of killings in the Albanian-dominated province of Kosovo, foreign ministers from the six-nation group (which also includes the US and Russia) condemned the use of “excessive force” by Serbian police and gave Serb President Slobodan Milosevic ten days to start talks on greater autonomy for the region.

But EU ministers must still resolve several issues.

It is unclear, for example, in what guise and under what terms González should try to mediate a solution in the province. Poland, which currently chairs the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is keen for the former Spanish premier to visit the region as its own presidency representative. But many EU countries feel he should be a full OSCE envoy to maintain as much contact with the Union as possible.

It is also unclear whether González should be sent as a specific Kosovo facilitator, which could antagonise Belgrade, or as a more general western Balkan representative.

Some EU countries have even suggested it might be more appropriate to send Max van der Stoel, the OSCE's High Commissioner for Minorities, to the area.

Meanwhile, French and German foreign ministers will be seeking support for their visit to the region next week, which they hope will be more successful than UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's recent mission.