Brussels, 27 February 2007 at 13.00
Good afternoon and thank you for being here.
It is a pleasure to be addressing you today next to Council of Ministers Chair, Nikola Spiric for the first time at a Peace Implementation Coucil (PIC) meeting.
We have had constructive discussions, both this morning and yesterday evening and I believe a consensus is clearly emerging.
First thing this morning, all three members of the Presidency had the opportunity to address the PIC.
For the past hour and a quarter, Prime Minister Spiric, has been discussing his government’s programme with the PIC.
This exchange of views has been extremely useful and PIC Political Directors have taken note of the various positions they have heard today.
PIC Political Directors have in addition been able to discuss a wide range of themes, including transition, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague and the wider reform agenda.
As I said earlier, these discussions have been constructive. I am not, however, able at this stage to provide any additional information about the PIC’s conclusions and the future mandate and structure of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I will be coming back at 4 pm to present the PIC communiqué and to explain the conclusions of the meeting.
In the meantime, I’ll hand over to Prime Minister Spiric.