Ambassador Alpo Rusi to chair the working group evaluating the future of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe

Press release 235/2004
2 August, 2005


The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has on 2 August appointed Ambassador Alpo Rusi as chairman of a working group to evaluate the future of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The Stability Pact covers the area of Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. The proposal to appoint Rusi to the task was made by Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact, Dr. Erhard Busek.

In the latest meeting of the Regional Table - the supervising body of the Stability Pact - in Sofia last May, Busek took an initiative aiming at increasing the dedication of the participating countries in the regional multinational cooperation to be carried out within the framework of the Stability Pact. The initiative was met with enthusiasm in the countries belonging to the Stability Pact. As a result, Busek has set a task to prepare a realistic analysis on how to improve the future commitment in the countries involved to the cooperation carried out in accordance with the Stability Pact. The Secretariat of the Stability Pact is located in Brussels. The other members invited to the working group include Professor Frantz Lothar Altmann from Germany, former Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic from Serbia and Montenegro, and Croatia’s chief negotiator in accession talks with the EU Vladimir Drobnjak.

Ambassador Rusi will carry out the chairmanship along with his current post. At the moment Rusi is acting as Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYR of Macedonia, and Albania. He has previously acted as substitute for the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe as well as coordinator of the Sarajevo Summit in the years 1999-2000.

Additional information: Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Unit for the Western Balkans, Attaché Kim Kuivalainen, tel. +358 9 1605 6575, Ambassador Alpo Rusi, tel. +358 9 1605 5017