Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Minister, we are privileged to welcome you today to this meeting and to hear from you directly your thoughts about the current situation confronting the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

As my Bulgarian colleague just made clear, you are ably represented here everyday by Ambassador Maleski, but it is always great to hear from the home team as well.

As President Bush made clear last Friday in his statement on the situation in Macedonia, the United States has a long-standing commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of your country. We strongly support the efforts of President Trajkovski and his government to uphold democracy and rule of law throughout your country.

We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated by a small group of extremists determined to destabilize the democratic multi-ethnic government of your country. We support those political leaders in Macedonia and the region who reject violence and terror and are committed to democracy and dialogue as the way to achieve political change.

We welcome Macedonia's commitment to respond to rebel attacks proportionately and with restraint and to take all necessary steps to protect civilian lives. We urge you to continue to follow this policy.

We encourage steps to foster a broad-based political dialogue between all Macedonia's elected representatives, including those of the ethnic Albanian community, to renew inter-ethnic consensus and address legitimate concerns of minorities.

As you noted in your remarks, we and others have been generous in our support for the university that you hope, and we hope, begins this fall in Tetovo. But, it is important that this joint venture be one where Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian citizens can see their own government, as well as the international community, supporting and leading this important new undertaking.

We believe the OSCE, along with other relevant international organizations, can help facilitate the inter-ethnic dialogue and help build a consensus that your country is struggling to put back together.

It is our belief that the cooperative efforts of the Ci0's Personal Representative for Macedonia, the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the Head of the OSCE's Spillover Monitor Mission, as well as the OSCE Chairman’s Representative on the Stability Pact can make a significant, positive contribution and can help to restore confidence, trust, and dialogue.

We believe the International Community, especially the OSCE, can and should play an effective role in supporting the Macedonian Government's own work toward a peaceful, stable, long-term political resolution of the challenges you face today.

Thank you.