Documents

Chairman's Conclusions
4th Meeting of WT on Democratisation and Human Rights

The Working Table on Democratization and Human Rights held its 4th meeting in Portoroz on the 14th and 15th of May 2001. The Working Table was addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Dr. Dimitrij RUPEL.

The main aim of this meeting was to reach consensus among all participants in the work of the Working Table on its future orientation and focus.

Establishing the values of democracy and achieving reconciliation and prosperity in the region constitute a major challenge. Achieving this will require a long term strategy and commitment. Participants agreed on the necessity to define clear and focused priorities and strategies in order to achieve a more effective impact.

The initiatives generated by Working Table 1 focus on seven areas: human rights and national minorities, good governance issues, gender, media, parliamentary cooperation, education and youth, as well as refugee return matters. Altogether 144 projects have been included in the Quick Start Package. Of these, 112 are underway or completed as planned, another 21 are making visible progress and 11 are delayed. As of April 2001, roughly 50% of the funds pledged had been disbursed ( more than 70% on refugee return programs).

A consensus among the participants regarding the priority areas was reached on refugee return, media, interethnic relations and cross-border cooperation, and education and youth. By concentrating efforts on a more limited number of activities the Stability Pact will increase its effectiveness. But the setting of priorities does not imply the cessation of existing Task Forces.

Participants also recognized the paramount need to strengthen good governance (including the enhanced Szeged process), institution building and gender issues in the region on a cross-table basis, as necessary requirements for the successful implementation of the Pact. Continued attention should be given to Roma issues.

Participants underlined that effective relations between parliaments and parliamentarians are critical in promoting accountability and transparency. They welcomed the recently established troika sponsorship of the Task Force on parliamentary cooperation, composed of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, as well as the European Parliament.

The discussion also reflected the following aspects and ideas:

• Recent events in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia show that stability in the region is still fragile; great attention should thus be paid to helping to consolidate the political situation in the country. Taking into account that interethnic dialogue is a key element of WT 1, and the preoccupations expressed on the situation in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a proposal was made by Greece to use in a complementary way the expertise of the Stability Pact towards promoting inter-ethnic dialogue in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

• Redesigning the key priorities of the Pact should be complementary with the other ongoing processes. Therefore, stronger links should be established between the SP initiatives and projects and the EU Stabilization and Association Process.

• NGOs and civil society are strategic partners of the Stability Pact and should be regularly included in its activities. NGOs play an essential role in the promotion of human rights and democratization, as well as in conflict prevention and building a tolerant multiethnic society.

• Stability Pact meetings should whenever possible take place in SEE.

• Emphasis was put on optimizing the use of networks.

• Participants took note of the Chairman's Conclusions of the NGO meeting in Brdo (12 May 2001). NGOs recommended the establishment of a focal point for NGOs in the Office of the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact, stronger involvement of the NGOs in the work of the Stability Pact, and suggested that future NGO meetings be organized on a sectorial basis.

Participants welcomed the candidature of Mr. Michael Zenner as Chairman of the Media Task Force and confirmed his nomination.

The Chairman of Working Table I Dr. Panagiotis Roumeliotis announced his intention to resign from his position within the month of June 2001. Participants expressed their appreciation of his contribution and thanked him for his dedication in promoting Stability Pact's objectives and goals.