We will start with the press conference. Allow me to welcome all of you on behalf of Secretary Powell and myself to this press conference. We are here together with our spokesmen so they will have a chance to ask you later for the questions we are expecting from you, but we will start with a summary of today's meeting.

The ministerial meeting took place here today in the presence of Secretary Powell, and the working language was English. Now for the press conference, allow me to speak in my own language, the Macedonian language, and please take the earphones for the translation.

The statement contains 11 points. As many ministers I have the chance of welcoming today in Skopje. We welcome the presence and participation of the US Secretary of State Powell on this meeting, and his affirmation of continued United States engagement in the region.

Secondly, we welcome the statement of the Contact Group ministerial in Paris on regional issues.

Thirdly, the foreign ministers reaffirm their full support for Macedonia's territorial integrity and for the government's effort to respond with proportionate means to violence and in defense of the rule of law.

The foreign ministers affirm the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to launch a broadened dialogue to strengthen inter-ethnic cooperation and move Macedonia closer to Europe, and stress the crucial importance of the Macedonian model of multi-ethnicity and integration of nationalities within state structures as a viable model of multi-ethnic societies.

The ministers unanimously rejected the use of violence in pursuit of political agendas. These kind of activities have no place in a democratic state and do not correspond with the Euro-Atlantic values shared by all the countries that took part in this ministerial today.

The ministers affirmed their support for UN Security Council resolutions 1244 and 1345 and their full implementation and creation of a peaceful multi-ethnic, democratic and self-governing Kosovo.

All of us express readiness to meet international obligations, including cooperation with the International Crime Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

Eight, the ministers reaffirmed the unanimous support for the Dayton Agreement and the rule of law in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The participants on this ministerial agreed that minorities in our respective countries should not be a source of conflict, rather, a source and basis for cooperation and confidence.

Ten, the ministers agreed to strengthen the cooperation through the stability pact, through SECI, and through other regional for or in order to promote stability across borders, to improve living and working conditions through democratic processes, and to safeguard human rights for all.

And eleven, the ministers expressed their firm commitment to intensify efforts to cooperate against organized crime and corruption, a scourge which threatens democracy and other basic values throughout the region.

Thank you, and now I will give the floor to Secretary Powell.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to you for hosting this meeting.

I found that your statement and the eleven points more than adequately describe the conversations we had. I was deeply impressed by all of the statements made by the ministers who came to this meeting. I was especially impressed by their commitment to the rule of law, the condemnation of violence, the condemnation of corruption, the importance of putting the rule of law underneath their society so that democracy can flourish. I was very impressed by the commitment to the proportionate use of force when a crisis comes along, such as we saw Macedonia use just recently in the crisis that they faced a few weeks ago.

I was very, very impressed by the commitment that was expressed by all of the leaders to economic development as the source of real stability, creating stable institutions, economic institutions, and political institutions, and the rule of law within each of the countries so that investment can be drawn to those countries, which will generate wealth that will benefit all the peoples within those countries.

I was especially moved by the commitment all made to making sure that the multi-ethnic nature of their societies is transformed from a source of conflict in the past to a new source of strength, that diversity can be made into strength if the channels are open for all parts of a society to be heard, and to feel that they are part of the democratic constitutional political process.

I was especially pleased that I heard solid support for the decision that was made yesterday by the Contact Group to encourage elections in Kosovo this year, and I heard support from that for that proposition from all of the members who were here today. And I also was pleased to hear a solid expression of support for continued cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal to Yugoslavia.

So I think this was a very, very productive meeting. It is my first visit to the region. I gave to all of my colleagues a solid expression of support from President Bush and the Bush Administration for their work, and the fact that we will be engaged politically and economically, we will provide military assistance as appropriate, and try in every instance to provide an example of what can be done in a multi-ethnic society, such as we have in the United States, and how that multi-ethnicity can be a source of strength, and not a source of weakness.

So I once again thank my colleague for his hospitality in hosting this meeting.

Thank you, sir.

FOREIGN MINISTER KERIM: Thank you. I would like to thank Secretary Powell for his summary of our today's discussions and (inaudible) a very fruitful, as you can hear from the statement of Secretary of State Powell.

Now, I would ask the spokespersons to facilitate our press conference.

MODERATOR: Just to summarize, as Minister Kerim said, he welcomes the words of Secretary Powell as a very adequate summary of what was said today, of what was truly a fruitful and very constructive debate, and now, as the spokespeople of both ministries take over the privilege, and the advantage is being given to the guests, they will take turns. First, one question will fall from the American side, followed by --

Q: Are you satisfied that the West and the United States in particular will give you enough, both military and political support, should you face a new upsurge in violence on your border with Kosovo?

FOREIGN MINISTER KERIM: Well, the relations between the United States and Macedonia have become traditionally good relations since its independence, so according to this tradition, I'm more than positive that this visit of Secretary Powell is a confirmation of the assistance, outstanding assistance of the United States, to Macedonia in terms of political assistance, economic assistance, and security assistance.

Thank you.

Q: Matuska from Macedonian Television. A question first to Secretary Powell. After today's discussions with the Macedonian leadership, with President Trajkovski and the Prime Minister, you said that Macedonia should have no doubts about the firm political, economic and military support for our country. What does this mean in concrete terms?

And a question to Minister Kerim. What is the kind of weight that you attach to today's Macedonian-American discussions?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, in terms of political support, I think my presence here today shows that we are committed to the political dialogue that has begun, and my presence here today, I think, is also an indication of President Bush's personal commitment to this. And the invitation I extended to the President on behalf of President Bush to come see him in Washington on May 2nd I think is also evidence of our commitment.

Economically, we are in constant dialogue with our Macedonian colleagues on how we can best assist them with aid. We have over $50 million committed in this year, and we will continue to look for ways that we can assist them with the development of their economy and with the development and further movement of their democratic systems.

FOREIGN MINISTER KERIM: Macedonia attaches extreme importance and weight to these discussions that were led today, especially if we bear in mind that Macedonia is a state where inter-ethnic relations remain ones of the pillars of our democracy, and especially of the view of the importance that we attach to our Euro-Atlantic links.

Therefore, with all this in view, it is fair to say that we do indeed pay a great deal of weight to these discussions and this dialogue today.

Q: Sarah Chase, National Public Radio. A question for both ministers, please.

Both the United States and the European Union have been exhorting Macedonia to begin to grapple politically with some of the issues that may have been raised by the recent crisis. That effort has been launched.

What I was wondering if both of you could do would be to describe as precisely as you can the structures, the political structures, the different parties that will be participating in this effort to develop a new legal framework for this country.

Thanks.

SECRETARY POWELL: I think I'll let the Minister describe the actual structures, but I was very impressed in my meetings today that I was able to sit with all of the parties represented in the government coalition. They all came and expressed themselves freely. We had a good spirited debate on the differences that exist and points of view between Macedonians and Albanians.

I am confident that the structure I heard described to me today, to include a secretariat that has been created to lay out the issues that the political dialogue will address, should yield results. And I was impressed by one exchange we had during the meeting with all of the various parties when I asked them to become very, very concrete, not just talk in general terms. And they very quickly talked about issues of language, issues of education, issues of participation in civil society.

So what impressed me was that all of the difficult issues are now being put on the table so that we can have a political dialogue that will allow them to be resolved, and this is the way these kinds of differences should be resolved in a society, and not by violence.

FOREIGN MINISTER KERIM: The enhanced institutional dialogue mechanism in Macedonia is composed of three basic dimensions. The inputs will come from the political parties, from the international organizations, such as the European Union, NATO, OSC, Stability Pact, Council of Europe, NGOs, and other interested individuals to take part, as far as the inputs are concerned.

The processing will be the dialogue, the permanent dialogue of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Boris Trajkovski, with the political leaders, with the parties, and the decision-making process on the basis of their recommendations and the consensus they will reach will be the Government and the parliament of this country.

A better example for a democratic institutionalized dialogue I can't imagine.

Thank you.

Q: Keer Adam from the daily newspaper in the (inaudible) of Athens.,

Mr. Secretary Powell, this is your first visit in the region, and you are now visiting the three hot spots of the area, which means Skopje, Pristina, and Bosnia, where the burning issue is change or no change of borders.

Will your message, the message of your Government, will be categorically no change of borders?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes.

Q: Mr. Powell, a few weeks ago when the conflict in Macedonia was on the top, you have declared that the US Government have uncovered a proposal for solving the problem in the Republic of Macedonia.

Did you expose or did you present today that your proposals and your plans during the meetings with the Macedonians and the Albanians that are present, which you have today, and could you explain now the USA access that proposals and plans for solving the conflicts, the sentiment in Macedonia don't re-escalate again, the conflict in Macedonia.

Wattan Tefree, freelancer, journalist and political analyst.

SECRETARY POWELL: When the conflict began and we saw the danger that Macedonia was in, I immediately began consulting with the President of Macedonia, and he and I talked every few days, and I did not have a magic solution for him. It was a problem that Macedonia had to solve as a free nation and a government that can make its own choices.

I cautioned the president to use proportionate force so that a greater problem was not created, and I especially encouraged him, as soon as the crisis was dealt with, to open the political dialogue, expand it very aggressively, and the conflict was dealt with in a way that I think was proportionate. It is over for the moment, but those dangers are still there. There are still extreme elements, terrorist elements that wish to make trouble in this country, and I am very pleased that the president has moved forward and his government has moved forward toward the political dialogue that we talked about.

So I think they are responding in a proper way by improving their military in case another such crisis comes along they can deal with it in a proportionate way, and undertaking the political dialogue, which if successful -- and I hope it will be successful -- will remove the grounds that give rise to this kind of violence.

But at the end of the day, it is a solution that Macedonia must come up with. It is not a solution that America can impose or a plan that we present to you to be executed. You have our advice, you have our best wishes, you have our counsel, you have our support, but ultimately, these kinds of solutions must be found within the country itself.

Q: Biana Skovska, I-Wan Television. Mr. Secretary, what are your suggestions regarding the political dialogue, and what is your message regarding the Albanian political leaders and their political requests? Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: The dialogue should become very specific as rapidly as possible, and not just remain at the level of generality, so that you can deal with the hard issues. And in my meeting with the Albanian leaders, both in a group and when I met several of them separately, I encouraged them to participate in a constructive and active way in this dialogue, and to remain committed to it and keep the coalition strong and together so that violence and extremism doesn't prevail. And so far I am pleased with the way in which the dialogue started and is continuing now, with the actions of the various parties in the political system in Macedonia, and I will be staying in close touch with the President and the Prime Minister, and with my colleague to lend our support and assistance as appropriate.

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