Brussels, 10/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council has appointed Austrian national Erhard Busek to replace Bodo Hombach as Coordinator for the Stability Pact in the Balkans early 2002. Former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Erhard Busek was recently advisor to the Austrian government for enlargement. In its conclusions, the Council evokes the situation of: 1) Macedonia: the Council welcomes the efforts by the parties and by the EU representative Alain Le Roy, which led to the adoption of constitutional amendments needed to facilitate the implementation of the framework agreement of 13 August, while recalling that the adoption of the law on local autonomy "remains necessary for the Commission and the World Bank to be able to convene a meeting of donors without delay". The Council also stresses that additional macro-financial aid decided the same day is "subject to the full implementation of the Ohrid agreement and other confidence-building measures". It welcomes the decision by NATO to extend the Task Force Fox operation by three months to protect EUMM and OSCE observers deployed in Macedonia. 2) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: The Council welcomed the report by High Representative Javier Solana on his last visit to Belgrade and "welcomed the intentions expressed by Belgrade and Podgorica to resume dialogue"; 3) Kosovo: The Council welcomes the first meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of Kosovo on 10 December and invites the parties to work towards strict
compliance with UN Resolution 1244; 4) Albania: The Council was pleased to note the Commission's recommendations for a negotiating brief for a stabilisation and association agreement, calling on the relevant Council bodies to examine it in order to begin negotiations "if possible during the first half of 2002". The Council reaffirmed its support for the aspirations of Albania to achieve a stabilisation and association agreement, while stressing that the progress to come will depend on resolute pursuit of reforms; 5) Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Council hoped it would be able to adopt, by early 2002, an updated version of the document by European High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch on the rationalisation of the international civil presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, specifying that, on this basis, the "eventuality of EU participation in the follow up of the international and police force in Bosnia Herzegovina will be examined"; 6) Stability Pact: The Council notes the Commission's intention to present, in March 2002, its annual report on the Stabilisation and Association Process for South East Europe.