Foreign Minister's participation in European Conference in Brussels

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Joe Borg, together with Foreign Ministers from the Member States of the European Union, the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Cyprus and Switzerland, participated in the European Conference held in Brussels yesterday.

The Conference focussed primarily on the situation in the Western Balkans region and, in particular, the latest developments of the situation in Kosovo following the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, the deployment of KFOR and the steps underway to establish the interim civilian administration for Kosovo. The participants also expressed their firm commitment to actively participate in and contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the Stability Pact, in particular progress in developing regional co-operation. Issues related to Transnational Organised Crime were also addressed by the Conference.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also had bilateral talks in the margins of the meeting with Mr. Gunter Verheugen, German Minister of State for European Affairs and Commissioner-Designate responsible for EU enlargement.