US Special Envoy for Kosovo addresses Permanent Council

VIENNA, 15 October 1998 - Ambassador Christopher R. Hill, US Special Envoy for Kosovo, briefed the special session of the OSCE Permanent Council today on the negotiations which led to the agreement to establish an OSCE verification mission for Kosovo. He also reported on this morning's Paris Contact Group Meeting which discussed how to implement the agreement. Ambassador Hill made clear that the agreement placed an enormous burden on the OSCE - both to verify the agreement and to help the Kosovars build effective democratic institutions. He also stated that it was his view that the OSCE was fully capable of taking on this burden and executing its responsibilities effectively.

EU special envoy and Austrian Ambassador to the FRY, Wolfgang Petritsch, was also in Vienna to attend the Permanent Council meeting.