Jacques Chirac, Extended invitation following uprising
The French President, Jacques Chirac, has invited Yugoslavia's President-elect, Vojislav Kostunica, to the European Union summit in Biarritz later this month. The invitation is the latest in a series of moves to normalise relations with the new regime. International leaders have stated that they will soon begin to lift sanctions against Serbia following the uprising against Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair speaking in Warsaw, said that Serbia was on the brink of being welcomed into the Europe of nations.
The EU Representative for Foreign Policy confirmed that the EU would begin lifting sanctions against Serbia next week. Speaking this morning, Javier Solana said that the ending of sanctions would commence on Monday when EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg. Earlier, the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, said that his government, which currently holds the EU presidency, was fully supportive of the Serb people fighting for democracy. The EU External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten, said that if Vojislav Kostunica was confirmed in power, the EU would end the embargo within days.
US President, Bill Clinton, pledged to move quickly to lift sanctions on Yugoslavia once democracy was restored. Mr Clinton was speaking to students at Princeton University in New Jersey last night. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, called on the opposing sides to avoid violence and said that he hoped the country's international isolation could be ended.
The European Union will also invite Vojislav Kostunica to the EU-Balkans summit in Zagreb, Croatia, on November 24, The Zagreb summit had been intended to stress the isolation of Serbia in the Balkans, but the situation has changed since yesterday's popular demonstrations in Belgrade.
