AFP, December 07, 2001
Chirac calls for reform of Yugoslav federation
French President Jacques Chirac called on the people in the republic of Montenegro and UN-run Kosovo province to take part in a reform of the Yugoslav federation.
"The split of the country can not be a peaceful and stable solution in the modern world," Chirac said in his speech at Belgrade University Friday.
As Podgorica and Pristina have threatened to secede from Yugoslavia, Chirac said a "solution can not be found in a policy of secession, in an approach... based on the logic of confrontation."
"In a time when Europe speeds up its process of integration and solidarity, it is an anachronism that its southeast continue a process of disintegration," Chirac insisted.
He expressed hope that "this message will be heard and well-understood in Kosovo and Montenegro (as well as in) Macedonia," where ethnic Albanian rebels earlier this year launched an insurgency against the government, demanding more rights for their community.
"A renewal of the Yugoslav federation, with respect to its integrity, is the best solution, not only for the stability in the region, but also for a development of harmonic relations between different parts of the Yugoslav society," Chirac said.
Chirac, who arrived here for a 36-hour visit earlier Friday, is the first Western head of state to travel to Belgrade since former strongman Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in a popular revolt in October 2000.
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