Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like also to thank you and your country for hosting the meeting about which we are speaking. It was extremely well organized and substantive. We particularly appreciate the participation of your Prime Minister, as well as the Chairman.

The discussion at the meeting illustrated to us a continuing need for OSCE States to work for improved respect for human rights of Romani minorities.

We believe there are a number of areas where the OSCE States and Institutions should be engaged. We need to increase Romani political participation as voters, elected officials, and in government at all levels. Governments need to ensure that Roma have basic documents such as birth certificates and identity cards, which are necessary for access to health care and education. We believe that all OSCE States need to adopt and implement anti-discrimination legislation that protects Romani rights and ensures legal redress when these rights are violated.

To this end, we support the continued engagement of the High Commissioner on National Minorities on issues relating to Roma. We also strongly support the work of the office of the Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues. We believe it would be useful to consider expanding the ODIHR mandate to facilitate monitoring of concerns relating to Roma and would welcome having the Senior Advisor not just once, but periodically, address Romani issues at meetings of the Permanent Council.

We also believe it is time to give additional support to ODIHR's work on Romani issues. This could be manifested through additional funding and staffing, in particular to facilitate the hiring of a project manager.

While keeping in mind that it is the primary responsibility of governments to ensure respect for human rights, we will continue to follow these areas of concern. The United States will support the OSCE in assisting governments in their efforts.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.