On May 23 and 24, a Conference of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) at the ministerial level will be held in Brussels, co-hosted by the Portuguese EU Presidency, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and the European Commission.
This is the fifth PIC Conference since the PIC was established in December 1995 following the successful negotiation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The PIC members and participants will discuss progress made so far in peace implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and set the agenda for the coming period of time.
The Conference will take place in the building of the EU Council, called the Justus Lipsius Building. Address: rue de la Loi 175, 1048 Brussels.
It will start at 15:00 hours on Tuesday, May 23, and finish at approximately 13:00 hours on Wednesday, May 24.
Television crews and photographers will be able to film the opening of the Conference. After the Conference, on 24 May, at approximately 13:00, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, will give a press conference in the main press conference room of the Justus Lipsius Building.
Journalists who wish to cover the PIC Conference and the High Representative’s press conference, and who are not permanently accredited to the European Union in Brussels, must obtain a press pass to be allowed access to the Justus Lipsius Building and the Press Centre located there.
In order to acquire the press pass, the journalists must by 19 May 2000 contact the Press Office of the Secretariat of the European Council at the following numbers in Brussels:
Tel: +32 2 285-7459, 285-6808, 285-8111, 285-6319
Fax: +32 2 285-8026
The Press Office will send them a media accreditation form, which needs to be filled out and returned. After the data are processed, the journalists will be issued a press pass. The press passes can be collected either at the Press Office of the Council’s Secretariat before May 23, or at the entrance of the Press Centre in the Justus Lipsius building on May 23.
The Press Centre in the Justus Lipsius Building can accommodate 300-450 journalists and will be open during the entire Conference. There are working rooms with telephones (access with Belgacom telephone cards which can be bought at the Press Centre) and modem connections. Radio booths are also available.
Please note that there are no TV editing facilities at the Justus Lipsius building. TV journalists who need technical assistance should contact Susan Fleming at the EU Commission’s Press and Communication Service, Audio-Visual Production and Studios Unit, tel.: +32 2 295-2123.
For further information, please contact the OHR Press Office in Sarajevo at 447-275 or Sanja Jelinic at the OHR Press Office in Brussels at +32 2 234-7424, fax: 234-7414 or email: sanja.jelinic@ohr.int