Balkan states agree to tackle refugee problems

(BELGRADE) - The foreign ministers of four Balkan countries Monday agreed to set up a long-term programme to help some 200,000 refugees from the wars that ravaged the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

"Our governments have agreed on a joint regional programme for the coming years in order to ensure durable solutions for the refugees and displaced persons who are the most vulnerable," the ministers of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro said in a declaration issued in Belgrade.

More than 15 years after the 1991-95 conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia, more than 200,000 refugees are still registered throughout the Balkans.

Serbia's Vuk Jeremic and his counterparts from Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro -- Sven Alkalaj, Goran Jandrokovic and Milan Rocan -- agreed measures to address the refugees' most pressing problems, notably to find permanent homes for some 74,000 who are still living in temporary housing.

The plan would also help them obtain identity papers and other documents.

The four countries hope to raise some 580 million euros ($800 million) at a donor conference early next year to fund a regional programme.

"A proper solution for this question is vital for future strengthening of positive and productive relations between our countries and our citizens, as well as our aspirations to join the European Union," the ministers' declaration said.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele attended the regional conference.