Contact Group (Balkans)
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The Contact Group is the name for an informal grouping of
History
The Contact Group was first created in response to the war and the crisis in
The Contact Group has taken a major interest in the UN-led process to determine the future political status of
2006 Activity
On July 24, 2006, Contact Group representatives observed the first high-level meeting between the prime ministers and presidents of Kosovo and Serbia to discuss Kosovo's future status. A Contact Group statement issued after the meeting praised Kosovo for demonstrating flexibility in the technical talks underway in the Kosovo future status process, but urged Serbia to demonstrate more flexibility than it had so far.
Contact Group foreign ministers met in New York City on September 20, 2006, in New York City on the margins of the UN General Assembly. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chaired the meeting. After the meeting, the Contact Group issued a press statement restating the goal of achieving a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006.[1]
Structure
The Contact Group has no Secretariat or permanent staff—it is simply an informal grouping of countries that meets regularly at various levels to coordinate international policy initiatives in southeast Europe. Contact Group public statements, often negotiated to painstaking detail within the group, are considered to be significant statements of the international community's policy and intentions in the region. The Contact Group usually meets at the level of Balkans director (i.e., the highest-ranking diplomats in charge of the Balkans in each foreign ministry). Occasionally, however, the Contact Group meets at the level of Political Director or even Foreign Minister.
See also
- Yugoslav Wars
- Kosovo status process
References
- ^ Contact Group statement on Kosovo, 20 September 2006
External links
- Guiding principles of the Contact Group for a settlement of the status of Kosovo
- Marit Moe, ‘The Contact Group on Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosovo: The Institution and its Mediation Role’
- Kosovo Contact Group Statement, January 2006