OSCE: EU Statement in response to General Sampaolo in the Permanent Council

Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Permanent Council No. 618
6 July 2006

Mr.Chairman,

The European Union warmly welcomes General Sampaolo and thanks him for his address to the Permanent Council. The European Union remains a firm supporter of the Sub-Regional Arms Control Agreement which resulted from Article IV of Annex 1b of the Dayton/Paris Peace Accords.

The European Union congratulates all parties involved on the successful conduct of the Fifth Conference to Review the Implementation of the Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control, held in Florence on 14 June 2006 and the adoption of a consensus final document. This tenth anniversary event showed how far the parties have come in bringing peace and security back to the region, and demonstrated the value of such arms control arrangements when all parties are genuinely committed to working co-operatively together. The European Union hopes that the progress achieved in this sub-regional arms control arrangement could serve as an example for similar arrangements in efforts to solve other unresolved conflicts in the OSCE area.

The European Union would like to note with particular satisfaction that the Defence Reform process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the willingness of all parties to support it, has now led to the representation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single voice in Article IV. This is a significant achievement.

Finally, the European Union encourages all parties to work together to incorporate the changes to Article IV which will be needed following the independence of Montenegro.

Thank you Mr Chairman.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia [1] and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this statement.

[1] Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process