EU leaders looked at the western Balkans as a whole Saturday, seeing the entire region as "a strategic priority" for the European Union amid concerns that the conflict in Macedonia could lead to another inter-ethnic bloodbath.
Concluding their Stockholm summit, the heads of state and government "reiterated the EU's strong and continued commitment to stability and peace in the region, which remains a strategic priority for the union."
They also recalled the 15-nation union's "firm attachement to the principles of inviolability of borders and territorial sovereignty of the countries of the region," the summit's final communique said.
The prospect of one day joining the EU exists for all of the western Balkans, the communique states, reiterating a vision set out at an EU-Balkan summit in Zagreb last year.
On the EU map, the western Balkans includes Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and the rump Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia, Montenegro and UN-administered Kosovo.
But the summit leaders warned that "no country will be able to move towards European integration without full cooperation" with the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), whose most-wanted list includes former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Following their meeting Friday with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, the European leaders instructed EU foreign policy high representative Javier Solana to "stay in close touch" with Skopje and "make recommendations" to EU foreign ministers, in consultation with the European Commission.
The summit, hosted by the Swedish EU presidency, on Friday issued the European Union's strongest possible support for Trajkovski's government, while at the same time urging it to act with restraint against the rebels and to work harder at accommodating the demands of Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority.
The EU leaders meanwhile expressed "appreciation" for Belgrade's "readiness to resolve the conflict in southern Serbia peacefully" following clashes with ethnic Albanians in the area that adjoins Kosovo and Macedonia.
"In the context, the council also underlined the importance of real confidence-building measures by Belgrade, including the release of all Kosovo Albanian political prisoners," the summit communique said.
On Montenegro, the leaders -- meeting as the European Council -- called on its government and the Yugoslav and Serbian authorities "to agree on new constitutional arrangements within a federal framework through an open and democratic process, in order to contribute to stability in the region."
They also called upon Bosnia's new government "to increase its reform efforts," and reminded the country's Moslems, Serbs and Croats that European integration could only happen "in the framework of a unified state."
For all the countries in southeastern Europe, the summit conclusions insisted on "the importance of regional cooperation," including "concrete action" against illegal immigrants who use the Balkans as a stepping stone to sneaking into western Europe – STOCKHOLM (AFP)
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