Support for UNMIK and OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Madam President, I am obliged to the Commissioner for his statement. Whilst we are, of course, convinced that our amendments are absolutely right and proper, what the Commissioner has said does at least, in terms of its content and of what is meant by it, go in the direction we want, that Parliament should be capable – albeit informally – of changing its mind about the appointment of the special coordinator of the Stability Pact. This statement by the Commission makes that clear.
I would ask you, Commissioner, to thank the services, especially Mr Priebe, for the very good cooperation that we have had in this matter.
I would also like to state that, whatever our concerns may have been, a desire to make life difficult for Dr Busek in his capacity as the special coordinator has not been one of them. I take the view that Dr Busek is one of our most outstanding co-workers in the broader sense of the word, who is committed to the region and knows what is going on in it. You can be sure that, if he were again to be nominated, he would certainly receive this House´s full support. If someone else is nominated, then we will of course give the matter due consideration and state our opinion. I wish to accept the proposal that the Commission has made, and I will, tomorrow, be recommending to the House that we proceed to a full vote. Then you, Commissioner, and the Commission would be able to do what you want to do and get things up and running with effect from 1 January.