KARLOWY VARY, June 24 (Hina) - By adopting the final document and joint statement on Kosovo and the Stability Pact, the one day conference of foreign ministers or their deputies of 16 Central European Initiative (CEI) ended in the
Slovakian town of Karlowy Vary on Thursday evening. In a joint statement on Kosovo CEI ministers supported the adoption of the UN Resolution on Kosovo which is based on the G-8 peace plan of the deployment of the KFOR and the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and police forces from Kosovo. The ministers also called on all sides involved to fully support the UN Resolution. The ministers expressed their satisfaction that the Kosovo crisis "caused by unacceptable ethnic intolerance and systematic ethnic cleansing" had ended and as such revived ones hope in the stabilisation of Kosovo and the entire region. In that regard, the importance of respect and re-establishment of minority and ethnic right
KARLOWY VARY, June 24 (Hina) - By adopting the final document and
joint statement on Kosovo and the Stability Pact, the one day
conference of foreign ministers or their deputies of 16 Central
European Initiative (CEI) ended in the Slovakian town of Karlowy
Vary on Thursday evening.
In a joint statement on Kosovo CEI ministers supported the adoption
of the UN Resolution on Kosovo which is based on the G-8 peace plan
of the deployment of the KFOR and the withdrawal of the Yugoslav
army and police forces from Kosovo. The ministers also called on all
sides involved to fully support the UN Resolution.
The ministers expressed their satisfaction that the Kosovo crisis
"caused by unacceptable ethnic intolerance and systematic ethnic
cleansing" had ended and as such revived ones hope in the
stabilisation of Kosovo and the entire region.
In that regard, the importance of respect and re-establishment of
minority and ethnic rights in Yugoslavia, including the Vojvodina
and Sandzak regions was highlighted.
CEI ministers condemned the "massive killing of civilian
population on Kosovo", and called on all sides to completely
cooperate with the International Tribunal for War Crimes Committed
in the Former Yugoslavia.
According to their evaluation, lasting peace and stability in south
east Europe will revive when "democratic principles and values,
which are actively promoted in many countries in the region, take
root in Yugoslavia as well, and a priority for this is a resolution
to the Kosovo crisis".
In its final document the ministers decided that in keeping with the
Stability Pact, they consider the possibility of the
"democratically elected government in Montenegro", to cooperate in
CEI projects.
"A political solution to the Kosovo crisis and the democratisation
of Yugoslavia would open the road to participation for these
particular countries to the CEI with a previously submitted request
for membership to the CEI as a successor country to the former
Yugoslavia", continues the document.
The joint statement welcomes the adoption of the Stability Pact and
expresses the CEI's determination to actively participate and
contribute to the Pact's objectives.
In that regard, the ministers concluded that the CEI "possesses
potential for concrete contributions in many areas which are
covered by the Stability Pact, using its own instruments and
possibilities".
This refers to the CEI working group, followed by the Executive
secretariat of the organisation, the secretariat for CEI projects
with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The CEI working group, the statement notes, covers areas which
directly concern the Stability Pact - from democratisation to human
rights, through to economic development and cooperation to
security issues excluding its military component.
The final document also refers to the situation in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and cooperation between the CEI and EU.
CEI ministers have called for the speedier implementation of the
peace accord for BH based on the principals of equal rights and
obligations of all three constitutive peoples.
The document also calls on the speedier return of refugees and
displaced persons in secure conditions and with dignity; media
reforms and reforms in education; finally the proper functioning of
state institutions and institutions involved with human rights
protection.
The CEI ministers confirmed their interest that the organisation
strengthens its ties to the EU at all levels and welcomed the EU's
decision to open possibilities for institutional relations between
countries in southern and eastern Europe via stability agreements
on an individual basis.
(hina) sp