JOINT STATEMENT BY PRESIDENTS OF SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE SFRY

Ljubljana, 9 September 2000


The presidents of four states that emerged from the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia adopted the following joint statement in New York:

A meeting of the acting President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic, the President of the Republic of Croatia Stjepan Mesic, the President of the Republic of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski and the President of the Republic of Slovenia Milan Kucan took place on the sidelines of the Millennium Summit. The Presidents discussed their countries' efforts for the earliest possible accession to Euro-Atlantic integrations, mutual cooperation, succession to the former SFRY, and the political situation in South Eastern Europe.

A joint position of the four states concerning the succession to the former SFRY was confirmed at the meeting. The resolution of the issue of succession to the former SFRY on the basis of the principle of equality of all successor states is the prerequisite for sustained peace and stability in the region. The Presidents also pointed out the significance of the consistent application of all existing decisions of the international community concerning succession to the former SFRY, in particular the decision of the Arbitration Commission of the EC/UN Conference on the Former SFRY, as well as the UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions confirming legal equality of all successor states, and emphasised the significance of terminating the current illegal situation in the UN in accordance with these decisions.

The four states will continue to coordinate their activities aimed at ensuring equal treatment for all successor states to the former SFRY in international organisations. It was underlined that FRY (Serbia and Montenegro), just like all other successor states, has to undergo the regular process of admission to international organisations. It was unanimously agreed to request the support of the EU, the United States and other UN member states for the realisation of this goal. The Presidents agreed that once democratic changes occur in FRY (Serbia and Montenegro), they shall support the abolishment of sanctions and the fastest possible admission of FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) to the UN and other international organisations once FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) so requests.

We proposed to meet and thus demonstrate our unity and capacity to bring the succession story to an end, without burdening the international community with this issue, although we will seek allies in this community in our efforts, commented President Kucan.

President Kucan also held a separate meeting with the former Prime Minister of FRY, Milan Panic, to discuss Serbia's future following the upcoming elections.

The President also met with Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic. In a statement to the press President Kucan confirmed the correctness of Slovenia's decision to provide access to UN headquarters to the Montenegrin delegation during the Millennium Summit. “Montenegro is now in a similar position that Slovenia faced in 1990 and 1991. When Bill Clinton visited Slovenia we gave him the opportunity to meet with Djukanovic at Brdo. At that time opinions in Slovenia were divided, however I do believe that it was a valuable deed. The Slovenian delegation to the UN has already enabled Montenegro to attend a Security Council meeting concerning Kosovo in the past”, stated President Kucan. In his opinion the opportunity for Djukanovic to present Montenegro's position to representatives of UN member states is in the interest of Slovenia.