Sarah speaking about Kosovar independence

Speech by Sarah Ludford delivered to European Parliament on Wed 20th Feb 2008

Mr President, I agree with those who say that there really was no other option but the independence of Kosovo. The EU is taking on its largest civilian mission ever and it will be very important that it is successful. It is quite an extraordinary situation. It is rather difficult to explain to outsiders that, although not all Member States can agree on recognizing Kosovo, they all support the EULEX mission. Indeed, a country like Spain is supplying personnel to the mission - this is very EU, very Brussels. But it must succeed.

I agree with Commissioner Rehn that the message to Serbia must be that the time has come to turn the page and, as others have commented, in that context it was somewhat disappointing to listen to Mr Jeremić, the Serbian Foreign Minister, this afternoon. I understand the rawness and the sense of grievance, but things must move on rapidly.

I hope that Prime Minister Thaci will make it absolutely clear to his compatriots that the protection of the Serb minority and other minorities in Kosovo is an absolute priority, because violence will not be tolerated. In that context, I was disappointed that the Serb Foreign Minister did not condemn the violence that has been perpetrated by Serbs in the last few years. He said Serbia did not encourage or instigate it, but he did not actually use the word 'condemn', which was disappointing.

Finally, the important thing, as others have said, is going to be economic development. There is 40% unemployment in Kosovo, and there is massive unemployment in Serbia as well. Let us move on towards rapid integration in the EU, moving via visa liberalization, which I hope will come very soon.