Brussels, 26 April 2001, 8081/01 (Presse
163), P 86/01
The European Union welcomes the decision
by the Serbian Supreme Court to release the 145 Kosovo Albanians of the
so-called Djakova/Djakovica Group. These persons were collectively sentenced
in May 2000 to prison terms of between seven and thirteen years for acts
of terrorism allegedly carried out during the NATO campaign in 1999.
This constitutes a further act by Belgrade to rectify politically biased sentences passed during the Milosevic regime. The European Union now expects Serbia to complete the review of the remaining cases as rapidly as possible, in order to correct the injustices of the Milosevic era. That would constitute another confidence building measure, conducive to a reduction of tensions.
The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union, the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, and the EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area align themselves with this declaration.