Holywood Councillor in Stockholm to discuss Kosovo

5.07.00pm GMT Mon 17th Dec 2007

Alliance Holywood Councillor Ian James Parsley

Holywood Councillor Ian James Parsley met with fellow Liberals from across Europe to discuss the EU response to the failure of negotiations on bringing democracy to Kosovo, and to the success of negotiations on tackling climate change in Bali.

Speaking to a motion supporting EU recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence in Kosovo, Cllr Parsley cautioned: "In many ways accepting the failure of negotiations between Serbs and Albanians sends out the wrong message from those of us who support stronger European cooperation. We cannot simply accept a continent dividing itself up into ever smaller pieces. The lesson from Northern Ireland is we have to find ways to live together, not to ignore each other."

The conference also saw support for tackling climate change. Cllr Parsley stated: "Again, I would be cautious about the outcome in Bali. the very fact the event took hundreds of negotiators to a place accessible only by air places questions about how seriously this issue can be taken and should be taken. The difficulty with the outcome is that yet again it focuses on targets which will, in all likelihood, be missed many decades hence, rather than on actions which can be measured today."

Cllr Parsley used the occasion to thank his colleagues from across Europe for their assistance in the re-vitalization of the Alliance Party's youth wing, which he said is now "in its strongest position for a generation".

ENDS