Opening Remarks by Reinhard Priebe, Director Western Balkans, External Relations Directorate-General, The European Commission

Dear Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues and friends,

On behalf of the European Commission and the World Bank I would like to welcome you all warmly here today for this donor coordination meeting for Serbia and Montenegro.

Let me start with a few points about today's meeting and its context.

Last time, we met with you as the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since the adoption of the Constitutional Charter, we are pleased to have you here today representing the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

We are all aware of the current political situation in Serbia. Sunday, Serbia's presidential elections failed for the third time in succession.

Last week, the Serbian Parliament has been disbanded and elections have been called for end December. It has been a turbulent political year. Only 8 months ago, Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic was tragically assassinated.

Especially in this context of political uncertainty, it is of great importance for Serbia and Montenegro to meet today with the international community to show that, despite political volatility, the reforms that were outlined in the Economic Recovery and Transition Program that was presented here in Brussels at the 2001 Donor Conference, are progressing; and this with the objective agreed by everybody, that Serbia and Montenegro moves more quickly towards European standards and European integration.

This meeting will give the opportunity for the restructured state following the adoption of its new Constitutional Charter to identify the key challenges ahead and to present a comprehensive reform programme to address these. We await with particular interest the presentation on how Serbia and Montenegro, starting from a very different situation, are now converging in the new State Union.

Let me remind you that although this is not a pledging conference, the donor community is here today to urge continuation of the reformist policies needed for the State to progress towards its goal of EU membership and integration in other international structures. These reforms are relevant for the current and any newly elected governments. We hope and trust that the necessary reforms will be implemented decisively for the benefit of the people of Serbia and Montenegro.

I look forward to an interesting Meeting that will allow the international community to reaffirm its support for the reform process and to allocate its assistance most effectively in the years to come. I would now like to invite the co-chair of this Conference, Mrs Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, to make an opening statement on behalf of the World Bank.