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"A Europe at long last undivided, prosperous and free. A Europe where war becomes unthinkable". These were the objectives set out by President Ahtissari of Finland in his introductory speech yesterday as EU president of the Sarajevo summit to launch a Stability Pact for Southeast Europe. The summit endorsed a general statement of commitment to develop the whole region and include it in European integration. It will be judged very much by the relationship between the noble ends envisaged and the means and resources put forward to achieve them.
It is important to realise that Kosovo is but a small part of a wider region damaged by the war. Unless its needs are responded to as a whole there is a danger of more wars erupting following further disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. This means that Montenegro, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Romania all have a strong case for inclusion. So too does Serbia. It is impossible to envisage the overall development of the region politically, economically or in terms of security without that state's participation. Its exclusion from yesterday's summit was to be expected after the end of the war. But the effort by the United States and Britain to make that semi-permanent until the removal of President Slobodan Milosevic from office, along with the refusal to extend reconstruction as distinct from humanitarian aid, are objectionable and counter-productive.
