VIENNA, Feb 13 (Hina) - The year 2003 should be a year of fulfilling commitments towards the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal (ICTY), said the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in
Serbia and Montenegro, Maurizio Massari, in his address to members of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday.
VIENNA, Feb 13 (Hina) - The year 2003 should be a year of fulfilling
commitments towards the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal
(ICTY), said the head of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Serbia and Montenegro,
Maurizio Massari, in his address to members of the OSCE Permanent
Council in Vienna on Thursday. #L#
Of the mission's priorities, Massari pointed out assistance in
suppressing all forms of organised crime, especially trafficking
in humans, weapons and drugs, as well as support in the
implementation of reforms, the democratisation of society, the
judiciary and the media.
The OSCE will also advocate better cooperation between its missions
in Belgrade and Pristina with the aim of creating conditions and
circumstances for the establishment of confidence for dialogue,
because neighbours must cooperate, he told journalists.
Diplomatic sources have revealed that the ambassadors of the
European Union, United States, the Netherlands -- the OSCE chair,
and a number of other countries pointed to the necessity of
cooperation with the ICTY, the stabilisation of southern Serbia,
and OSCE mission priorities -- the protection of minorities and the
establishment of the rule of law.
The Croatian delegation at the Permanent Council expressed special
interest in solving the issue of the rights of minorities and the
return of refugees.
Since the return of refugees to Croatia has been the focus so far,
the Croatian Ambassador to OSCE, Vladimir Matek, recalled that some
40,000 people had been exiled from Yugoslavia or had to leave under
threats, whose return he said one should also take into account.
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