646th Meeting of the Permanent Council of the OSCE
At the meeting of the Permanent Council on 11 January 2007 the European Union reserved its right to come back to the Interpretative Statement by the delegation of Belarus in connection with the Permanent Council’s decision to extend the mandate of the OSCE Office in Minsk until 31 December 2007 (PC.DEC/775).
The EU does not share the view of the delegation of Belarus that the OSCE Office in Minsk “should focus primary attention on transferring its tasks and experience to Belarusian state institutions”. To narrow the focus of the work of the Office in this way is certainly not in line with its mandate. The EU wishes to stress that OSCE Missions should be able to implement programmes and projects in all areas defined in their mandates, thus assisting the host governments to implement their OSCE commitments.
We request that this statement be attached to the journal of the day.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, as well as Ukraine align themselves with this statement.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
