92000E3421

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3421/00

by Andre Brie (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(8 November 2000)

Subject: Situation of deserters and conscientious objectors after the end of the war in Kosovo

On 6 May 1999 Parliament adopted a joint resolution on the situation in Kosovo(1) in which it called on the Member States to take in Yugoslav army deserters and conscientious objectors and grant them a temporary right of abode in the EU. Furthermore:

- thousands of deserters are still being denied the legal status that the European governments promised to accord to them,

- most of the deserters (especially those in Hungary) are living in refugee camps in conditions unfit for human beings,

- the vast majority of the deserters are being refused asylum in the Member States and many of them, indeed, are likely to be deported.

Can the Council therefore say:

- whether it is aware of this problem and what efforts have been undertaken to date?

- whether there was any point at all in appealing to Yugoslav servicemen to desert when the only action taken to follow up that appeal has been to close the borders to the deserters, deny them legal status, and in some cases even threaten them with deportation?

- whether the necessary financial assistance has been provided, in particular to Hungary, where most of the deserters have found temporary shelter?

- whether it intends to raise this matter in future talks with the new Yugoslav leadership and, if so, what attitude it will take?

(1) OJ C 279, 1.10.1999, p. 411.

Reply

(24 April 2001)

1. The Council is fully aware of the situation of deserters and conscientious objectors from the FRY army after the end of the war in Kosovo and has duly noted the European Parliament Resolution of 6 May 1999.

2. As the Honourable Member will recall, the Resolution was addressed to the Member States, which have certainly followed the European Parliament's recommendations on those matters which come within their sovereignty.

3. The Council has therefore not dealt specifically with the question, but considers that the new situation emerging in Belgrade might be conducive to a positive solution to the situation of Yugoslav deserters and conscientious objectors. The Council will actively work towards that end. In this context it has welcomed the Amnesty Bill which the Government of the FRY submitted recently to its Parliament and which could apply to deserters and conscientious objectors.