OSCE Chairman-in-Office commends positive developments in southern Serbia

BUCHAREST, 1 June 2001 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, has commended the recent positive developments in southern Serbia. He was referring to the agreement on the demilitarization of the villages of Luchane and Turija; the agreement providing for the disarming and disbanding of the UCPMB in the Sector B of the Ground Safety Zone, signed under NATO auspices; and the agreement on a phased re-entry of Yugoslav security forces into Sector B of the Ground Safety Zone, which has been implemented as provided and without major incidents.

"These welcome developments will have a positive impact not only on the further negotiations in southern Serbia but also on the climate in the region as a whole," stated the Chairman-in-Office. This was possible, stressed Mr. Geoana, due to the political commitment and political will proved both by representatives of the Federal/Serb Government and the local Albanian political leaders, engaged in negotiations. He also emphasized the particular efforts of the Personal Representative of the NATO Secretary General, under whose auspices the negotiations have been taking place.

"This confirms once again that when there is a strong will to follow the way of negotiations, the difficult disputed issues can be resolved," said the Chairman-in-Office. In the same context, he underlined that the setting up of a multi-ethnic police training course with the assistance of the OSCE was an important step towards a stabilization of the situation in southern Serbia: "The joint Serb-Albanian participation in the police is a clear sign that the co-existence of different ethnic communities is possible. The patrols to be carried out jointly by Serb and ethnic Albanian police officers will contribute to the restoration of confidence among the people living in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja." He encouraged ethnic Albanians to join the multi-ethnic police force in Southern Serbia and at the same time appealed to the temporarily displaced residents of the Ground Safe Zone, as well as the individuals who have been granted amnesty, to return without fear to their homes.

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