Permanent Council

Permanent Council admits FRY at special session

The OSCE Permanent Council, the Organization's main decision-making body, admitted the FRY into the OSCE at a formal ceremony held at the Hofburg Conference Centre in Vienna on Friday, 10 November 2000.

FRY Foreign Minister, Goran Svilanovic, took a seat which had been empty since the suspension of Yugoslavia in 1992. Prior to this, he participated in the official raising of the flag of the FRY in the OSCE Permanent Council conference hall.

Foreign Minister Svilanovic expressed the full readiness of his country to accept and carry out all OSCE principles and standards. "We believe that, after ten years of conflict, the Balkans can be once again a cradle of democracy, peace and stability. All our neighbours should be aware that we are ready to give all guarantees for the territorial integrity of the States in the region, and this is what we also expect from them. We believe that with all our neighbours, hand in hand, we can join Europe"."This is great moment for all of us to go forward let's do it at this table, never at the battlefield - never again", Minister Svilanovic said.

Immediately after the special session, a press conference was held with Foreign Minister Svilanovic and the Special Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office for South-Eastern Europe, Albert Rohan.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia applies to join OSCE

On 6 November, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica, handed over in Belgrade a letter to OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Benita Ferrero-Waldner, expressing the readiness of the FRY to join the OSCE as a participating State.

In the letter, President Kostunica wrote that: "the FRY is ready to sign and accept in their entirety the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Charter for a New Europe and the Charter for European Security, as well as to adopt the Vienna Document together with all other relevant CSCE/OSCE documents, demonstrating its willingness to accept fully all the commitments and responsibilities stemming from them, and to act in accordance with the provisions therein."

President Kostunica had also accepted an invitation by Ms. Ferrero-Waldner to attend the OSCE Ministerial Council on 27 and 28 November, and to sign OSCE documents there.

Active role for Yugoslavia

Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner, on a one-day visit to Belgrade, said she expected Yugoslavia to play an active role in the future of peaceful development in Balkans after its admission to the OSCE.

"The OSCE is ready to support the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in building democratic institutions, especially in electoral legislation, the development of independent media and an independent judiciary," said Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner.

During her visit, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner met with other senior members of the Government, including Prime Minister Zoran Zizic, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic as well as Coordinator of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia Zoran Djindjic and His Holiness Patriarch Pavle.

OSCE invited to monitor December elections

The Chairperson also announced that President Kostunica had agreed to an OSCE observation mission for the elections in Serbia, scheduled on 23 December. She stated that she was confident that the Serbian population would take in these elections "a decision, which is as wise and focussed on the future as the decision it took during the presidential elections earlier this year."

Ms. Ferrero-Waldner also appealed to the President to undertake all efforts to release all Kosovo Albanian prisoners. She was encouraged by his reply that one of the Government's first priorities would be the passing of an Amnesty Law that would comprise all political prisoners, including Kosovo Albanians.

Eight years of suspension

Yugoslavia was suspended from the OSCE on 8 July 1992 because of the nature of its involvement in the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This was the first and only time that the 'consensus minus one' mechanism was used against an OSCE participating State. The mechanism allows decisions regarding a participating State to be made without the consent of the State concerned in cases of "clear, gross and uncorrected violation" of OSCE commitments.

OSCE decision-making is based on consesus, and the decision admitting the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into the OSCE required consesus among its 54-participating States.