OSCE Chairman-in-Office urges calm in face of Hague indictment of Kosovo Prime Minister

WASHINGTON, D.C., 8 March 2005 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, said he was following events in Kosovo, where the Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has just announced his resignation, with concern.

He welcomed the intention by the Prime Minister that he would travel to The Hague to respond to his indictment on alleged war crimes, issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

"I trust in the maturity of the people of Kosovo and hope they will realise their best interests lie in following the example of the Prime Minister and allowing the legal process to take its course", said Minister Rupel. "I also urge all parts of the community to remain calm and refrain from any actions that might inflame the situation at this important time in Kosovo's development."

He offered the support of the OSCE to maintain the progress that Kosovo had been making and emphasized that the province could not afford a repetition of the setback suffered almost one year ago, when 19 people were killed and more than 4000 people were driven from their homes.

Minister Rupel said the fact that he had visited Kosovo in January, so early in Slovenia's Chairmanship, reflected the importance attached by the OSCE to its work in Kosovo, where the OSCE Mission is the largest of the Organization's 18 field missions: "On that visit I received positive signals from the Kosovo Albanian leadership that this situation was foreseen and would be handled sensitively."

"As I told the UN Secretary General just three days ago, I believe the OSCE, as an integral part of the UNMIK [United Nations Mission in Kosovo] pillar structure, should remain an important part of the international presence in Kosovo," he said.