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Central and Eastern Europe

Meeting of the Socialist International Committee for Central and Eastern Europe, Belgrade,

17-18 September 2001

The Socialist International Committee for Central and Eastern Europe gathered on 17-18 September in Belgrade, for the first ever SI meeting in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It follows the country's peaceful democratic revolution of last year.

The committee counted on the participation from the host country of, among others, the Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party; Dragoljub Micunovic, President of the Yugoslav Federal Parliament and leader of the Democratic Centre; Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, leader of the Civic Alliance of Serbia; Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac, leader of the Social Democratic Union; Slobodan Orlic, Federal Secretary of State for information and member of the presidency of the Social Democratic Party; Emil Fajzulahi, Vice President of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina; Radoslav Nedic, Vice-President of the Democratic Alternative and Mujo Mukovic, Vice-President of the Sandzak Democratic Party.

The agenda focused on the situation in the Balkans, the prospects for enlargement of the European Union and other current issues concerning Central and Eastern Europe

The meeting was chaired jointly by Piero Fassino of the Democrats of the Left, DS, Italy, and László Kovács of the Hungarian Socialist Party, MSzP, Hungary, Co-Chairs of the Committee and included the participation of Luis Ayala, Secretary General of the Socialist International and delegations from Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Spain, Socialist International Women and the Party of European Socialists. (List of participants)

The meeting issued the declaration of Belgrade reflecting the content of its discussions.


BELGRADE DECLARATION

Original: French

1. Voicing deep feelings of distress in the face of the appalling acts of terrorism against the United States:

expresses its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States of America;

stresses that the battle against terrorism and all forms of violence must be the point of departure for the international community and that every country must unambiguously assume its full responsibilities;

stresses the contribution which religious authorities can make and asks those authorities to place the battle against terrorism at the centre of dialogue between religions;

expresses its support for all initiatives to facilitate the identification and punishment of those responsible for such criminal acts;

stresses the importance of developing with the Islamic countries all forms of dialogue and cooperation;

calls on all the parties involved and on the international community to commit themselves to put a stop to violence in the Middle East and to resume the peace process;

reiterates - as the SI did at its last Congress - its will to work to make freedom, democracy, justice and solidarity the principles with which to face the challenges of this era of globalisation.

2. Considering the situation in the Balkans:

welcomes the remarkable progress achieved by the FRY on its road to democracy;

stresses the need for the international community to strengthen the investment and economic aid which are essential for building a solid market economy and promoting social development and economic growth in Yugoslavia;

stresses also the importance of supporting all activities tending to reinforce the democratic institutions in the FYR;

reaffirms that the international institutions must support and encourage the return of all refugees to their homes;

urges all international organisations to bring the FRY into membership;

welcomes the fact that Mr Milosevic has been brought before The Hague Tribunal and urges the Tribunal to pursue its actions against all those who have committed war crimes and bring justice to all the victims;

welcomes the talks begun by the authorities of the FRY, of Serbia and Montenegro to renew the foundations of the Yugoslav Federation;

welcomes the opening between the government of Serbia and the authorities of Vojvodina and other regions to achieve the decentralisation and regionalisation of Serbia;

expresses its satisfaction with the Agreements signed in Macedonia, urges all parties concerned to implement them without delay and

stresses the importance of supporting the peace process in the country;

stresses the importance of the forthcoming elections in Kosovo and - taking into account resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council - urges all the parties concerned, as well as the international institutions, to ensure that these elections are free and fair, with respect for the rights of every man and woman and of all ethnic communities and with concrete conditions which allow all the citizens of Kosovo to freely participate in the elections;

welcomes the progress made in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the implementation of the Dayton Agreements and urges the international community to continue all its efforts to consolidate peace and cooperation between the communities of which Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up;

reaffirms that in order to bring peace and stability to the region, it is necessary to ensure that the national, cultural, ethnic and religious identity of every man, every woman and every community is recognised and respected;

stresses the fact that the regulation of immigration and of free circulation and the fight against the illicit traffic and of all forms of criminality is essential to secure stability, security and growth;

urges the European Union to strengthen its relations with the countries of the region and to begin the process of their gradual integration into the rest of Europe;

urges all the countries concerned to strengthen, without delay, their action within the Stability Pact;

expresses its gratitude to the soldiers and officers of the international forces working to promote disarmament, peace and security in the region;

reaffirms the importance of the international community, its institutions and each country concerned continuing their full engagement in the region;

calls on all the parties of the Socialist International to support the political forces of social democratic inspiration in implementing all actions aimed at strengthening democracy.

3. Considering the progress of negotiations on the enlargement of the European Union:

welcomes the remarkable progress achieved in the negotiations and urges all the candidate countries to pursue the work of compliance with European norms;

urges the European Union to implement all the concrete measures and financial assistance necessary to promote policies of convergence in the candidate countries;

reaffirms the importance of confirming the decision taken by the European Council concerning the negotiations and the timetable for membership;

urges the European Union to also pursue the policy of building a relationship of association with countries - such as Croatia and other countries in the region - which wish to join the EU in the future;

reaffirms that the full respect of the rights of minorities, based on the acquis communautaire, is an essential criteria in order to be part of the European Union;

expresses its satisfaction with the forthcoming completion of the launch of the Euro as a single currency - a process which can strengthen the economy of all the EU countries, as well as the candidate countries;

welcomes the support given by the Party of European Socialists and its Parliamentary Group to the social democratic and socialist parties of the candidate countries to meet the challenges linked to enlargement.

4. Expressing full solidarity with the region's parties of social democratic and socialist inspiration, SICEE and its member parties reaffirm their commitment to supporting all the initiatives necessary to implant in the region democracy, freedom, respect for human rights, solidarity, justice and sustainable development



LIST OF PARTICIPANTS



Co-Chairs of the Committee
Piero Fassino
(Italy, DS)

László Kovács
(Hungary, MSzP)




Secretary General of the SI
Luis Ayala




ALBANIA
Socialist Party of Albania, SPA

Petro Koçi




AUSTRIA
Social Democratic Party of Austria, SPÖ

Albrecht K. Konecny




BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SDP BiH

Miro Lazovic
Sejfudin Tokic
Vaso Trgovceviv




BULGARIA
European Left

Tchavdar Mladenov
Valkana Todorova




BULGARIA
Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, BSDP

Nadya Radeva





CROATIA
Social Democratic Party, SDP

Mirjana Feric Vac
Irina Stajcic




CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Social Democratic Party, CSSD

Petr Smutny
Linda Kopechá




DENMARK
Social Democratic Party

Steen Christensen
Erik Boel




FRANCE, PS
Socialist Party, PS

Christian Castagna




GERMANY
Social Democratic Party of Germany, SDP

Christoph Zöpel
Harald Berwanger
Martin Weiss




GREECE
Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK

Takis Batzelis




HUNGARY
Hungarian Social Democratic Party, MSzDP

László Kapolyi




HUNGARY
Hungarian Socialist Party, MSzP

Vilmos Szabó
Pèter Havas





ITALY
Democrats of the Left, DS

Giovanni Magnolini




FYR MACEDONIA
Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, SDUM

Eleonora Mitevska




ROMANIA
Democratic Party, PD

Sorin Frunzaverde




SLOVAKIA
Party of the Democratic Left, SD

LIvan Stefunko




SPAIN
Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, PSOE

María Solanas





Socialist International Women, SIW
Marlène Haas
Zita Gurmai





Party of European Socialists, PES
Friedrich Roll





SI Secretariat
Latifa Perry
Gabriela Shepherd




Guests:



BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Party of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD

Milorad Dodik
Zeljka Cvijanovic



BULGARIA
Bulgarian Socialist Party

Roumen Ovcharov




ROMANIA
Social Democratic Party, PSD

Cristian Niculescu
Victor Bostinaru




RUSSIA
Otechestvo (Fatherland) Organisation

Olga Beklemisheva




RUSSIA
Russian United Social Democratic Party, RUSDP

Victor Mironenko




RUSSIA
Russian Party of Social Democracy

Dmitrij Vovchuk




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Civic Alliance of Serbia

Goran Svilanovic




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Democratic Alternative

Radoslav Nedic
Leonid Hramov




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Democratic Centre

Dragoljub Micunovic
Stevan Lilic
Vesna Marjanovic
Natasa Vuckovic






FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Democratic Party

Zoran Djindjic
Predrag Filipov
Aleksandra Joksimovic
Tibor Jona




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Sandzak Democratic Party

Mujo Mukovic




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Social Democracy Party

Slobodan Orlic
Natasa Milojevic
Simeon Pobulic
Dragana Petrovic
Milan Jovanovic
Svorcan Radojica




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
Social Democratic Union, SDU

Zarko Korac
Vlatko Sekulovic
Miroslav Hristodulo
Janko Zafirovski
Zdravko Jankovic
Bratislav Mladic
Tamara Smilevski




FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina

Emil Fejzulahi



Other activities

If you are looking for an earlier meeting, please consult the LIBRARY section.