OSCE decides to support verification mission for Kosovo

VIENNA, 15 October 1998 - At a special meeting on Kosovo today, the OSCE Permanent Council issued a Decision which declares the preparedness of the OSCE to "embark upon verification activities related to compliance of all parties in Kosovo with the requirements set forth by the international community with regard to the solution of the crisis in Kosovo...". To this end, the Council also declared its support for the efforts of Mr. Bronislaw Geremek, Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, who will sign an agreement with FRY Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic in Belgrade tomorrow. The agreement outlines the parameters of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission.

The decision stressed that the verification efforts would be "related to compliance of all parties in Kosovo with the requirements set forth by the international community." The decision also confirmed the OSCE's "long-standing readiness to give its contribution to the peaceful solution of the crisis in Kosovo."

In the meantime, the OSCE Secretariat is sending an advance team to Kosovo this weekend to begin preparing the ground for deployment.