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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Preservation of regional stability necessary

Belgrade, 4 April 2005

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today during a meeting with Slovenian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Dimitrij Rupel that OSCE plays a very important role in the region and that Serbia-Montenegro expects a favourable assessment of the feasibility study, which will be the first formal step towards the European Union.

Speaking about Kosovo-Metohija, Kostunica stressed that it is necessary to make an adequate assessment of the implementation of standards there and maintain continued focus on the respect for human rights, freedom of movement and large number of refugees remaining.

He added that Serbian representatives will take part in the task forces on missing persons, the return of the expelled, energy and transport. The formation of task forces for property issues, privatisation and environment has also been proposed.

Kostunica said that a task force for decentralisation is very important and that a compromise must be reached concerning its work. Speaking about the status of Kosovo-Metohija he reiterated that it is necessary to insist on the implementation of all standards required and called for an option that would be more than autonomy and less than independence, an option in which nobody would get all and nobody would lose all.

Dimitrij Rupel said that the problem of Kosovo-Metohija is a problem of Europe as a whole and not only of Serbia-Montenegro and stressed the need for expanding dialogue. Rupel highlighted the importance of preserving regional stability as a precondition for serious talks on the province's status. Speaking about the standards, Rupel said that European criteria will be applied when it comes to the return of the displaced, minority rights and property rights.

The Serbian Prime Minister said that the preservation of regional stability calls for institutional arrangements in Kosovo-Metohija that will not entail radical solutions and change of the state borders.

The meeting was attended by head of the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Nebojsa Covic, head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia-Montenegro Maurizio Massari and Belgian Ambassador to Belgrade Luc Liebaut.