Thank you, Mister Chairman.

I would like to call attention to the state of the OSCE Kosovo Police School in Vucitrn. As most of you are aware and some of you have seen with your own eyes, this school is succeeding thanks to the efforts of the Head of Mission and to those who are leading the Police School, and to the individual instructors—in spite of the constant problems that they have had with the infrastructure at the school.

The Police School truly is an OSCE institution, success of which has depended on the dedication and efforts of instructors from a great many of the OSCE member States around this table. But those States which have contributed instructors have heard about the dismal living and working conditions at the facility. From leaking roofs to broken floors, from rusted pipes to faulty wiring, there is a crying need for replacement – not just temporary fixes – of the basic infrastructure at this school.

Right now, the Kosovo Police School is the jewel in the crown of OSCE’s efforts thus far in Kosovo. We cannot let it fail for lack of support. If this school is going to succeed as an institution, we need to provide not only the instructors—but also the students—with a safe, livable, and lasting facility. Neither staff nor students should be operating in unheated rooms without even a reliable supply of drinking water.

If, as we say, the OSCE’s objective is capacity-building – the creation of lasting institutions which will continue to work long after we have departed the region – then we must make the additional investments needed to properly repair this facility and leave behind something we can all be proud of. It makes no sense to paper over problems with short-term fixes and leave behind an institution which will literally fall apart perhaps even before we leave.

The staff of the police school and the leadership need our help, and need it very soon. I would urge us all to contact our capitals, to work with Ambassador Krasznai and his colleagues at the Conflict Prevention Center, and to provide this school with the additional support it is going to need. While we have just passed a new budget, additional resources in terms of voluntary contributions will be needed to address this problem. We all need to contact our capitals to see what is possible to do our part.