OSCE Head discusses new programme of action with South Serbia Co-ordination Body
BELGRADE, 25 October 2005 - Ambassador Maurizio Massari, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, met today with the Vice President of the Co-ordination Body for South Serbia, Razim Halimi, to discuss projects and programmes of action.
Ambassador Massari outlined the activities of the Mission which have contributed to the positive developments in southern Serbia, including the fact that the Serbian Education Ministry, with the assistance of the Mission, has approved more than 70 books, which will now be available to ethnic Albanian pupils.
He said that on 28 October the Mission will organize a study trip for judges and prosecutors from southern Serbia to the town of Senta in Vojvodina, where they will learn how multi-lingual trials are conducted in this predominantly ethnic Hungarian town.
The Head of Mission praised 10 lawyers, both ethnic Albanian and Serb, who passed their bar exam after participating in a specialized OSCE training programme. Another six students are expected to pass the exam by the end of the year, thereby creating a pool of qualified candidates for positions in the local judiciary and administration from the different communities.
The Mission has also provided training of local police officers, who have been passing on their newly-learned skills on community policing to more than 400 of their colleagues.
"These important developments are indicative of what active co-operation between the local ethnic Albanian community leaders, central government representatives and non-governmental organizations can achieve," said Ambassador Massari after the meeting. "Much still needs to be done and we need maximum unity of the local communities and commitment by central government to improve the lives of the people."
Ambassador Massari and Razim Halimi, who is also the Mayor of Presevo, discussed a number of projects being formulated for the region.
The Head of the OSCE Mission plans to travel to the region in November to meet with the members of the Co-ordinating Body and senior government officials to discuss the action plans of the working groups and the implementation of a number of important projects.