ANNEX II

DECLARATION ON KOSOVO

The European Council condemns in the strongest terms the use of indiscriminate   violence by the FRY and the Serbian security forces to impose the Belgrade Government's political terms.No State which uses brutal military repression against its own citizens can expect to find a place in the modern Europe.President Milosevic bears a heavy personal responsibility.

The crisis constitutes a serious threat to regional stability and requires a strong and united international response.The European Council calls for immediate action from President Milosevic in four areas in particular:

To stop all operations by the security forces affecting the civilian population and to withdraw security units used for civilian repression;

To enable effective and continuous international monitoring in Kosovo;

To facilitate the full return to their homes of refugees and displaced persons and unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations; and

To make rapid progress in the political dialogue with the Kosovo Albanian leadership.

The European Council stresses the importance of President Milosevic taking advantage of his meeting with President Yeltsin in Moscow on 16 June, which it welcomes, to announce progress on the above steps and to commit Belgrade to their implementation in full.

Unless these four steps are taken without delay, a much stronger response, of a qualitatively different order, will be required from the international community to deal with the increased threat to regional peace and security.The European Council welcomed the acceleration of work in international security organizations on a full range of options, including those which may require an authorization by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Given the gravity of the situation, the European Council has agreed to supplement measures already being implemented against the FRY and Serbian Governments by taking steps to impose a ban on flights by Yugoslav carriers between the FRY and EU Member States.

A solution to the problem of Kosovo's status can only be found through a vigorous political process.The European Council calls urgently on both sides to return to the negotiating table, with international involvement, to agree confidence-building  

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