OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO DR. ERHARD

UNCLAS STATE 110262 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL OSCE SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO DR. ERHARD BUSEK ¶1. (U) Post is authorized to make the following statement at the October 16, 2008 meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna: Begin Text: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, The United States welcomes the former Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Dr. Erhard Busek, to the Permanent Council, and thanks him for his presentation and the reminder of the difference a unified international effort can make in fostering peace, democracy, human rights, and economic development. We applaud you for your leadership of the Stability Pact. That the Stability Pact should be succeeded by a more regionally oriented cooperation framework, the Regional Cooperation Council, is emblematic of the success of the Stability Pact. We support the Regional Cooperation Council,s efforts to reinvigorate the economic and social development in Southeastern Europe. The shift of this work from the international community to the region itself is encouraging. This is exactly the sort of effort the OSCE should be fostering elsewhere in our OSCE region where regional economic integration is lagging and cooperative efforts could help foster greater stability and prosperity. Once again, we thank you, Mr. Busek, for your work to contribute to the stability of an important part of Europe in transition. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. RICE