Friday, October 8, 1999 Published at 19:59 GMT 20:59 UK
Aid linked to Milosevic removal
The EU says it will provide $42m in humanitarian aid
The European Union is stepping up pressure on Yugoslavia's President Slobodan Milosevic to resign, promising international assistance for the country once he is ousted.
Serbia would be expected to introduce legislation in line with international standards on democracy and human rights, and hold free and fair elections under international supervision.
The declaration is expected to be adopted by EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday in the presence of nearly 30 Serbian opposition politicians and trade union and human rights activists.
British officials say the EU will also announce a scheme to give energy aid to specific towns under opposition control to help them cope with the oil embargo on Serbia, whose oil refineries were damaged by Nato bombs earlier in the year.
The initial EU funding for the "Energy for Democracy" package will come to about $3m, plus contributions by individual governments.
The EU's special representative for southeast Europe, Bodo Hombach, told a conference of Serbian opposition figures in Hungary: "We must provide this to avoid the suffering of the people and we must see how this can be done as soon as possible."
The conference was the latest in a series organised by the Hungarian authorities to help the Serbian opposition.
Serbian opposition sources say plans already exist to supply the fuel from Bulgaria directly to towns in Serbia which they control, perhaps by the end of this month.