[Title] Declaration on Former Yugoslavia

We, the leaders of our seven countries and the representatives of the European Community, are deeply concerned about the ongoing Yugoslav crisis. We strongly condemn the use of violence in the former Yugoslavia and deplore the suffering inflicted upon its population. We particularly deplore those actions directed against civilian populations as well as the forced expulsion of ethnic groups. Although all parties have contributed to this state of affairs the Serbian leadership and the Yugoslav Army controlled by it bear the greatest share of the responsibility.

We support the EC Conference on Yugoslavia chaired by Lord Carrington as a key forum for ensuring a durable and equitable political solution to the outstanding problems of the former Yugoslavia, including constitutional arrangements for Bosnia and Hercegovina. We call on all parties to resume negotiations in that Conference in good faith and without preconditions. We also welcome close consultations between the Conference chaired by Lord Carrington, the EC, the UN and the other parties concerned with the Yugoslav crisis. These consultations could lead to the holding of a broader international conference to address unresolved questions, including issues related to minorities. We stress the absolute need for the parties in former Yugoslavia to show the will for peace, which is indispensable to success and without which the peoples of former Yugoslavia will continue to suffer.

The tragic humanitarian situation especially in Bosnia and Hercegovina is unacceptable. We fully endorse the efforts of the international community to provide relief. We welcome the efforts made in achieving the opening of the airport of Sarajevo and we support actions taken by UNPROFOR to secure the airport. The blockade of Sarajevo must be lifted and the shelling of the town stopped in order to sustain a comprehensive relief operation.

We express our gratitude to all participants in the airlift to Sarajevo and the supply of its population. We appeal to all parties in Bosnia and Hercegovina not to imperil the humanitarian effort. We firmly warn the parties concerned, including irregular forces, not to take any action that would endanger the lives of those engaged in the relief operation. Should these efforts fail due to an unwillingness of those concerned to fully co-operate with the United Nations we believe the Security Council will have to consider other measures, not excluding military means, to achieve its humanitarian objectives.

The airlift to Sarajevo can only be the beginning of a larger humanitarian effort. Safe access by road to Sarajevo as well as to other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in need must be guaranteed.

The needs of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons require further significant financial support. We are willing to contribute and ask others also to make fair contributions.

We underline the need for Serbia and Croatia to respect the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Hercegovina and for all military forces not subject to the authority of the Government of Bosnia and Hercegovina to either be withdrawn or disbanded and disarmed with their weapons placed under effective international monitoring.

We call on all parties to prevent the conflict from spreading to other parts of the former Yugoslavia.

We urge the Serbian leadership to respect minority rights in full, to refrain from further repression in Kosovo and to engage in serious dialogue with representatives of Kosovo with a view to defining a status of autonomy according to the draft convention of the EC Conference on Yugoslavia.

Sanctions decided by the UN Security Council in resolution 757 as well as all other provisions of relevant UN resolutions must be fully implemented.

We support the efforts of the UN peace keeping forces in implementing the UN peace plan for Croatia in all its elements. We demand that Serbs and Croats extend their full co-operation to the UN peace plan and make every effort to bring the bloodshed in Croatia to an end.

We do not accept Serbia and Montenegro as the sole successor state of the former Yugoslavia. We call for the suspension of the delegation of Yugoslavia in the proceedings of the CSCE and other relevant international fora and organizations.