Meetings of the Working Tables and the Regional Table
Skopje, 17-19 November 2004
General Information

A) Logistical information

Date and venue
The meetings of the three Working Tables and the Regional Table of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe will take place on 17-19 November 2004 in Skopje, Hotel Aleksandar Palace.

Participation and delegations
Registration forms for the meetings have been provided per e-mail.
The registration of participants at the conference will begin on 17 November at 13:00 in the Hotel Aleksandar Palace.
Please note that the format of all meetings is 1 head of delegation + 2 members of delegation.

Arrivals, Departures and Transportation
All participants are kindly asked to check at the closest diplomatic-consular mission of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia whether they need an entrance visa.

In order to facilitate the arrival of participants, a welcome desk will be established at the entrance of the airport (before the passport control).

The organizers will take care of the transport of the participants on the following routes:

1. Airport - hotel (at the arrival) and hotel-airport (at the departure) - only for participants who are accommodated in the three proposed hotels;
2. Hotel - venue of the conference (departure 30 minutes before the start of the meetings) and
3. Venue of the conference - hotel (after the termination of the daily program)

Participants, who leave Skopje on 19 November 2004, are requested to take their luggage with them to the conference venue. On that day transport to the airport will be only be available from the hotel Aleksandar Palace.

Ministers or Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be provided with VIP treatment (one official VIP-car and one minibus during the stay) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Accommodation
The organizers offer following three hotels:

Hotel Aleksandar Palace (conference venue)
Hotel Holiday Inn
Hotel Best Western

Registration forms have been provided per e-mail.

Participants are supposed to cover the accommodation costs and all other payments that originate from the utilization of the room or the apartment.

Secretariat
During the meetings there will be a Secretariat for delegations and media equipped with PCs and printers. Photocopiers and faxes will also be available.

Accreditation for media
Media representatives who wish to attend the Stability Pact meetings should contact the “Agency for Information”: Tel./fax: +389 2 3117 401.

It should be noted that the media representatives are recommended to make their own arrangements concerning their travel bookings, accommodation, meals, etc., at their own expense.

Press conferences
Working Table meetings on 17 and 18 November: press conferences will be held during or after each meeting.
Regional Table on 19 November: press conference will be held at 10:45.

Media Advisory with information about the meeting itself and the topics covered will be available on 8 November. A Press Release will be distributed at the end of the Regional Table meeting.

For further information, media organizations should contact Mr. Dragan Barbutovski, Stability Pact Spokesperson (dragan.Barbutovski@stabilitypact.org; tel.: +32 2 401-8725; mob.: +32 498 982-984)

B) Information regarding the meetings

Interpretation
The working language of the meetings is English.

Statements of delegations
Statements and reports of delegations should be provided to the SCSP Secretariat in advance.
In order to enable genuine discussions, we advise to make general information on activities of the participating countries or organizations available in the frame of the meetings.
Reports of Task Forces will be available on the Stability Pact web page.

a) Working Table meetings:

Interventions at the meetings should cover the specific points of the Working Table meetings.
Should delegations wish to provide additional information on their respective country’s or organization’s activities in relation to Working Table initiatives, these should be provided to the Stability Pact Secretariat in advance of the meeting. They can be placed on the web page and can also be made available at the meeting in Skopje alongside the progress reports from each of the Working Table initiatives.

b) Regional Table meeting:

Statements of Ministers and high-level participants will be listed according to protocol order. These statements are limited to 5 minutes.
Statements of other members of delegations are limited to 3 minutes.