Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to join my European Union colleagues in welcoming High Representative Petritsch, his Chief Deputy Mr. Hayes, and Head of Mission Beecroft, and thank all of them for their tireless efforts on behalf of all of us in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The achievements of the organizations that they lead are a tribute to the dedication of their staffs, all of whom have strived to fulfill the dream of a free, peaceful, democratic, and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We were very encouraged to hear about the progress made in the area of democratization. We agree that our projects are crucial to Bosnia's democratic transition and that they require sustained and committed support.

We are, however, concerned that State authorities have not yet elected the four Bosnian members of the Electoral Commission. We urge action on this matter now. It is a necessary step on the way to conducting elections next year. In addition to that, I would also like to make clear that we expect improvement promptly on the rate of property returns.

Like others around this table, we are following very closely the streamlining and reconfiguration efforts of the International Community and believe they come at the right time.

We especially appreciated Wednesday’s presentation by Ambassador Hayes that laid out the choices we will soon have to make. We hope that all of the representatives around this table can support this effort and take part in it. We believe it will help to focus our efforts on the highest priorities. We also believe the OSCE can play a larger role as it assumes responsibility for some programs currently implemented by the UN and OHR, including for strengthening the rule of law.

In particular, the United States fully supports a follow-on police mission after the UN-sponsored International Police Task Force (IPTF) fulfills its core mandate in December 2002. We believe a follow-on effort will be necessary to continue the required mentoring and developmental assistance to the Bosnian police. We further believe that the OSCE represents the best option to assume such a mission. We base this opinion on our successful operations in Kosovo, Croatia, southern Serbia, and the one we are now launching in Macedonia. We know that this will require a great deal of thought and work and we believe we should get started on it very soon.

Again, Mr. Chairman, we thank the High Representative, his Deputy, and Head of Mission Beecroft for their thoughtful and insightful reports. We look forward to the challenges ahead, as we move into the next phase of the International Community's assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thank you.