Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia addressed OSCE Permanent Council

VIENNA, 24 January 2002 - In a press conference he held after addressing the OSCE Permanent Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slobodan Casule, said the situation in his country was "stable but fragile".

"But we are going to continue pursuing political solutions" he added. "In order to guarantee the generation of stability, I have asked the OSCE to be instrumental in it" the Minister told reporters.

In his speech to the Permanent Council the Minister said that the real generator of crisis in his region was the global phenomenon of organized crime.

"Organized crime tends to generate terrorism, extremist political platforms, even articulates political ideas and advocates changes of frontiers and the creation or destruction of states, which in a broader sense endangers the very architecture and foundations of Europe" he said.

Foreign Minister Casule also said he was confident that the Local Government Law would be adopted in the Macedonian Parliament today. He saw this as a major step in the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement signed on 13 August 2001.

Regarding his meeting with the OSCE Secretary General Jan Kubis, the Foreign Minister said he wanted to see the OSCE present in the region through particular projects such as emancipation of women, especially Albanian ones, economic improvement, environmental and media issues.

The OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, originally established in 1992, is currently providing support for the implemetation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement through the presence of approximately 200 international confidence-building monitors and police advisors.