OSCE Chairman says Organization is committed to stability in south-eastern Europe

BELGRADE, 7 February 2005 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, said on Monday that the Organization was committed to remaining engaged in south-eastern Europe.

Speaking in Belgrade, where he met Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, he said stability in the region was a key priority for the Slovenian Chairmanship in 2005.

"The OSCE should and will remain engaged in South-Eastern Europe, a region that has accomplished a lot so far and where democratization is irreversible," the Chairman-in-Office said.

"In close co-operation with the countries of the region and with other international partners, the OSCE will continue to assist with institution- and capacity-building, the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons, enhancing the capacity of domestic judiciaries and monitoring domestic war crimes trials."

''Moving Serbia and Montenegro towards the European Union is the only realistic option for regional stability and economic development,'' he added.

The Chairman-in-Office briefed his Serbian partners on his visit to Kosovo last month, where he stressed that both the international community and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government should do all they can to protect the rights of the Serbian community.

"Kosovo Serbs should also know that it is in their own interests to play a constructive role in political institutions," he added. He also appealed to Serbian leaders to encourage Kosovo Serbs in this process.