OSCE Troika Foreign Ministers meet in Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN, 10 April 1997 - The Ministers of the Troika of the OSCE, the Foreign Ministers of Poland, Switzerland and Denmark met today in Copenhagen and issued the following statement on their meeting:

On the situation in Albania the Ministers expressed their support for an OSCE presence. They confirmed that the OSCE stands ready to provide a framework for co-ordinating the international effort and encouraged the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE (PR-CiO), Dr. Franz Vranitzky, to continue his work in this regard. They welcomed the speedy decision of the United Nations Security Council to authorize the deployment of a multinational protection force to Albania and expressed their support for those countries offering to participate in such a force.

The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of a timely conduct of the local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and of securing a sound financial basis for the OSCE's preparation and conduct of them. They expressed their appreciation to Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, Mrs. Susanna Agnelli, for accepting the tasks as Personal Representative in charge of Fund Raising. Recalling the paramount importance of those elections for the future peaceful development of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the commitment made at the Lisbon Summit, they encouraged all OSCE Member States to contribute to this effort.

The Ministers found that the situation in Belarus still gave grounds for serious concern. Ministers expressed their expectation of a constructive Belarussian follow-up to the report from the EU Fact-Finding Mission. They expressed their satisfaction that a visit by the PR-CiO to Minsk would now take place. They reiterated the OSCE's willingness to assist in facilitating democratic reform.

The Ministers agreed to continue the preparation of an enhanced OSCE presence in the Eastern Slavonia (Croatia) after the departure of the United Nations Transitional Administration on Eastern Slavonia in order to ensure long term monitoring of human rights.

In the context of the regional engagement of the OSCE the Ministers agreed that a general OSCE-budget reform is urgently needed to bring resources in line with operational decisions.

The Chairman-in-Office informed the Troika on his recent meetings with representatives of the government and opposition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Troika expressed concern over the lack of dialogue on democratic reform in Serbia and expressed support for the continued effort by the Chairman-in-Office to promote such a dialogue. Ministers urged the Belgrade Government to co-operate with the PR-CiO, Max Van der Stoel, in dealing with the Kosovo issue.

The Ministers discussed the situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Ministers welcomed the recent declaration of the Parliament of the FYROM on promoting inter-ethnic trust and respect. They underlined the need for all parties to engage in a constructive inter-ethnic dialogue aiming at solutions based upon OSCE principles and full respect for the constitution.