Statement by the OSCE Presence in Albania

TIRANA, 19 April 2002 - With regard to changes in co-operational structures such as the Friends of Albania Group, the OSCE Presence in Albania repeats Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens's statement at the press conference held in Tirana yesterday that such structures should be adapted to changing circumstances, that this should be done in full co-operation with the Government of Albania, and that, with Albania's increasing rapprochement to the Stabilization and Association Process with the European Union, the EU will play a much greater role.

The suggestion that this should not be done hastily means that it is advisable that the re-dimensioning of current structures should take place only to the extent that new arrangements are put in place.

This subject was not part of the agenda of the 6th International Friends of Albania Group Conference in Vienna.