Thank you, Madame Chairperson.

First, I would like to extend the condolences of my Government over the tragic loss of life in the mine accident recently in Ukraine.

We welcome the presence and the wide-ranging presentation that was delivered this morning by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Tarasyuk. In particular, I would like to applaud his description of Ukraine’s support for OSCE’s processes and objective. We would also like to welcome the Rada's recent vote to approve the MOU formally establishing the OSCE project coordinator's office in Ukraine. From our point of view, this was an important demonstration of Ukraine's determination to cooperate actively with the OSCE, a point underlined by the Foreign Minister today.

At yesterday's Preparatory Committee, we were interested to hear from Peter Burkhard, project coordinator for Ukraine, on the work of his office on human rights legislation, technical assistance for the national council against trafficking in human beings, judicial training and administrative assistance to the courts and other projects currently underway. We strongly support this important work by the project office.

Ukraine shares with its partners in the OSCE an understanding of the crucial role of the OSCE in achieving stability in the new Europe. The OSCE also provides a framework of values and norms for Ukraine's "European Choice."

Our discussion today is particularly timely because this is a crucial phase in the history of Ukraine. With the re-election of President Kuchma, the establishment of a reform-oriented government under Prime Minster Yushchenko, and the creation of a majority in the Rada backing the course of reform, Ukraine has a unique window of opportunity to push forward with reforms and accelerate its integration in European structures. We welcome the Ukrainian Government's commitment to do so.

Important among those reforms is strengthening Ukraine's civil society and its respect for the rule of law. The ODIHR report on the presidential elections in October 1999 and the Freedom of the Media Representative's report on the media situation in Ukraine show that--dispute considerable progress since independence--more needs to be done in these areas. We look forward to working with Ukraine to address the concerns raised in these reports.

Decisive, convincing progress on reform is the way ahead for Ukraine's "European Choice." The United States, as Ukraine's strategic partner, pledges its support in this effort.

We would welcome an opinion from ODIHR on the numerous legal and constitutional questions, which have been raised about the planned April 16 referendum referred to by the Foreign Minister.

Finally, regarding Ukraine's proposal for an ethnic research center to be established under the High Commissioner on National Minorities, we would welcome hearing from the High Commissioner his views on the desirability of this proposal.