NEWS RELEASES
AXWORTHY TO VISIT KOSOVO AND INAUGURATECANADIAN OFFICE IN PRISTINA
November 16, 1999 (9:20 a.m. EST) No. 248
AXWORTHY TO VISIT KOSOVO AND INAUGURATE
CANADIAN OFFICE IN PRISTINA
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy will travel to Kosovo on November 17 for a one-day visit en route to
Istanbul, where he will attend the Summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Minister
Axworthy will preside over the inauguration of the Canadian Government Office in Pristina. Its key functions will
be to supervise the disbursement, and ensure the effectiveness, of the $100 million in funding of new initiatives
in support of the rehabilitation of Kosovo and the Balkans, announced by the Government of Canada on
November 1. He will also meet with senior international officials and Canadians working in Kosovo.
"Canada has consistently demonstrated our support for the people of the Balkans as they work to create a
sustainable peace throughout the region," said Minister Axworthy. "Canadians have made a very important
contribution to date in Kosovo in the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. I will be meeting
with senior officials of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo to discuss progress made on
issues such as the timing of elections, implementation of the winterization program, the interim civil
administration, and the status of the UN Mission's deployment and operations."
The Minister will also meet with leading representatives of the Kosovar Albanian and Serbian communities,
including Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, head of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, leader of the Party of
Democratic Progress, and a senior representative of the Kosovar Serb community. During these meetings, Mr.
Axworthy intends to outline the aims of the recently announced Government of Canada priorities in areas of
Canadian expertise, such as community-based assistance, democratization, mine action, peacekeeping
training, human rights and police peace support.
The Minister will then travel to Glogovac, west of Pristina, where the Canadian Forces Area of Operations
within the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) is located. He will meet with the Commander of the Canadian
Contingent to KFOR, Colonel Mike Ward, and with Canadian peacekeeping troops stationed there, in order to
see first-hand the important difference Canadian troops are making to the security situation in Kosovo.
Minister Axworthy will finish his Kosovo visit with an aerial tour of a Canadian-funded mine action project, and
will meet with representatives of the International Demining Alliance of Canada, which is undertaking this critical
work in the area.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
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