Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to welcome you, High Commissioner Ekeus, back to the Permanent Council and to thank you for your report on your recent trips to Croatia and Latvia.

Indeed, there have been some positive developments with regard to minorities in the OSCE area since you last briefed the Permanent Council, but there remains a need for improvements in some areas. The United States would like to join you in commending the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) for adopting the Law on the Protection of National Minorities. There is no doubt that your engagement with the Ministry for National and Ethnic Communities helped in this matter.

Likewise, the United States encourages Croatia to continue progress on protecting the rights of minorities. I encourage you, High Commissioner, to remain engaged in Croatia to help the Croatian Government develop a Law on National Minorities. We also encourage you to work with their government to find ways to more fully implement the current Constitutional Law on Minorities, especially regarding representation of national minorities in local governments.

Mr. Chairman, I noted in recent Permanent Council meetings that I reserve the right to return to the concerns raised by representatives of the Russian Federation regarding Latvian citizenship procedures and the forthcoming elections. I would like to take this opportunity to make a brief comment.

As we have stated in the past, we welcome Latvia's willingness to work with the High Commissioner on National Minorities to continue to address issues of concern to certain residents of that country. We believe that Latvian and international efforts to increase the levels of naturalization are bearing fruit.

We think that continued constructive dialogue on these matters, using the expertise of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the expressed commitment of the highest authorities of the Latvian Government to address these issues, will provide the basis for resolution of outstanding questions.

Finally, I would like to thank you for returning to the Permanent Council so quickly to give us an update on these issues of mutual concern. Your ability to provide the Council your insights from on-the-ground visits is invaluable and we will continue to look to you to warn of other potential conflicts in the OSCE area. We share your concern about potential problems in the majority Armenian Javakhetia area of Georgia, and the need for an amicable solution between Hungary and Slovakia regarding the Hungarian Status Law. We look forward to updates on these situations at your next appearance before the Permanent Council. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.