Ten years after the start of a succession of bloody wars that tore Yugoslavia apart and left thousands dead, the European Union yesterday embraced the Balkan states with a multi-billion pound aid package and the prospect of EU membership. At a three-hour meeting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, the 15 EU heads of government promised the leaders of five Balkan states to help them towards prosperity and to strengthen democracy and free trade.
"Today in Zagreb a new page is opening in the history of Europe. Begun 10 years ago with the fall of the Berlin Wall, our continent's reconciliation with itself is finally about to be completed," declared the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac.
The optimistic mood was clouded, however, by a dispute over the future relationship between Serbia and Montenegro, the two remaining states in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and a warning by the new Yugoslav president, Mr Vojislav Kostunica, that the conflict over Kosovo may not be over.
The EU promised to pump 4.65 billion euros into the region over the next six years and to offer Yugoslavia, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania access to EU markets by abolishing 95 per cent of import tariffs. As a formal applicant for EU membership, Slovenia already enjoys free trade with the EU.
The five Balkan states agreed to create a duty-free zone and to co-operate in fighting crime but, speaking after the meeting, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, predicted that the process of reconstruction would be arduous.
"Let's be frank. It's not going to be easy. Economic development has been at a very low ebb, investment is practically non-existent. But the international community is now, I think, determined to try to bring them on," he said.
In his remarks to the meeting, the Taoiseach said that Mr Kostunica's presence meant that the final piece in the jigsaw of regional co-operation was now in place. But he said that Ireland knew better than most countries how difficult the process of reconciliation can be.
"Justice is an essential element in any process of reconciliation. Those who have committed crimes must be brought to account. In particular, all individuals indicted by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia should be brought before that body as soon as possible," Mr Ahern said.
Outside the summit, Croatian war veterans and relatives of some of those who died during the war with Serbia protested against Mr Kostunica's presence at the meeting.
They argued that the Yugoslav leader should not be embraced by the international community before he apologises for the crimes committed by Serbia against its neighbours.
Mr Kostunica made no such gesture of reconciliation and warned that the Montenegrin President, Mr Milo Djukanovic, was courting "disaster" with a proposal to change the relationship between Montenegro and Serbia. Mr Djukanovic wants to replace the Yugoslav federation with a loose union of two independent states and plans to hold a referendum on independence next spring.
The United Nations administrator in Kosovo, Mr Bernard Kouchner, complained yesterday that western leaders had abandoned their commitment to hold elections in the province.
He warned EU leaders that there was a risk of a return to conflict unless Kosovo Albanians, many of whom favour independence from Serbia, were given the chance to choose their leaders.
"If they are cornered they will fight," he said.
