HOMBACH: STABILITY PACT HAS SERIOUS INTENTIONS REGARDING REGION'S LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT

ZAGREB, June 12 (Hina) - The Special Coordinator for the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Bodo Hombach, said in Zagreb on Tuesday the Pact seriously intended to enable the region's long- term development, which was proven by the fact that a large number of scheduled projects was being implemented. The Working Table on Security has 35 projects divided between two sub-tables and almost all projects are being implemented, Hombach said at the beginning of a regular semi-annual meeting of the Pact's Working Table on Security in Zagreb today. This sends an important signal to the region and international community that we are serious in our intention to enable the region's long-term development, said Hombach. The Zagreb meeting was organised by Croatia as one of the countries chairing the Table on Security in the first half of this year. The meeting has gathered some 250 participants from 60 countries and organisations which are members of the Stability Pact. The organisation of the meeting marks the end of Croatia's six-month chairmanship of the Table. In his address to the gathered, Hombach expressed concern about the situation in Macedonia and added that the Pact would continue searching for new possibilities of resolving the Macedonian conflict although it was not a mechanism which could resolve armed conflicts directly. Hombach said he and the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and Romanian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Mirce Geoana would continue looking for new possibilities for a final solution to the Macedonian conflict. Macedonia's economy will have to pay the price as well because foreign investors are withdrawing to safer countries, Hombach said. In his opinion, the main problem of the region's economy is organised crime and corruption, which cloud the business environment. (hina) rml