Sarajevo - A ceremony was held in Sarajevo today, October 10, to celebrate the selection of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the seat of the Regional Co-operation Council Secretariat and the recent signing of the Host County Agreement (HCA). This ceremony marks an important milestone in the process of transition of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe into the regionally-owned Regional Co-operation Council (RCC), due to take over by the end of February 2008. Key decisions on the RCC, from the selection of the seat of the Secretariat to the nomination of Hido Biscevic as the RCC Secretary General, have been taken by the Heads of State and Government of the SEECP in Zagreb on May 11, 2007. The HCA, which provides the RCC Secretariat with legal personality and capacity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, was signed in Plovdiv on September 14, at the SEECP ministerial meeting.  

Special Co-ordinator Erhard Busek stressed the „historic importance of the Stability Pact being launched in Sarajevo and now coming back to Sarajevo to physically start the transition to the RCC with today's event“. He voiced his view that „South Eastern Europe is a different region today, with the countries coming together instead of being split by conflicts“. He expressed his confidence that the RCC will make the best use of the initiatives, launched by the Stability Pact.   Ambassador Biscevic thanked the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the extraordinary work in setting up the RCC and the excellent premises assigned to it. He expressed his commitment to guide the RCC by working closely with the SEECP for „a new modernity in SEE“. H.E. Dr Nikola Špirić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressed the full commitment of his country for hosting the RCC and being an active promoter of regional co-operation.

The ceremony was attended by the SEECP Participating Countries, prospective donors of the RCC, the European Union, represented by the Troika – the Council, the Commission and the Presidency, as well as Erhard Busek, Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and Hido Biščević, appointed Secretary General of RCC. The participants were greeted by H.E. Dr Nikola Špirić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and visited the future premises of the RCC Secretariat, in the Building of the State Institutions of BiH, floor V. 

The transition from the Stability Pact to the RCC, which is well on track, will set the stage for a new era of co-operation in South Eastern Europe, one of real regional ownership. The Stability Pact is committed to give the necessary support to the new Secretary General to ensure a smooth handover to the RCC. By handing over to the RCC the functions that the Pact performed so far, it is also the spirit of the Pact that is being transferred, and its legacy as a unique forum for co-operation in the region and between the region and the international community.

Background

The RCC will gather SEECP Participating States and UNMIK/Kosovo, together with the European Union and the wider international donor community, thus preserving the character of the Pact’s Regional Table, a unique setting where the region and the international community co-operate on an equal footing.  The RCC will therefore take over the key tasks of the SP in facilitating regional co-operation, supporting the European and Euro-Atlantic integration efforts of the region and at the same time being a forum for continued involvement of the donor community; all of that under the leadership of the region itself. Some 30 officials will work in the RCC and a process of recruitment is already in place. The countries from the region are covering one third of the costs of the RCC Secretariat, the remaining two thirds being covered by the European Commission and other donors. The RCC will sustain co-operation in the agreed priority areas, as follows:

1. Economic and Social Development;
2. Infrastructure;
3. Justice and Home Affairs;
4. Security Co-operation;
5. Building Human Capital;
6. As well as Parliamentary Co-operation as an overarching theme.

For further information, please contact Stability Pact's Spokesperson
Mr Georgi Gotev at the SP Secretariat in Brussels
(Tel: +32 2 401 87 25 or press@stabilitypact.org).
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PR2007/020