Emergency Aid for Municipal Elections in Kosovo to Support its Democratization

October 24, 2000

1. On October 24 (Tue), the Government of Japan decided to extend an emergency grant aid of 1,041,000 dollars to the Organization for Security and Co-operation of Europe (OSCE) to implement the municipal elections in Kosovo in a fair and smooth manner, and support its democratization.
   
   
2. In Kosovo, municipal elections will be held on October 28 by the OSCE Kosovo Mission, under the control of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). At the Kyushu-Okinawa G8 Summit Meeting, it was recognized that the upcoming elections will be an important step in the establishment of a democratic and multi-ethnic society, and they are regarded as important in that they will foreshadow the development of peace in the region in the future.
   
   
3. In view of the significance of the upcoming elections, and considering the request from OSCE, the Government of Japan has decided to extend this grant aid to support the expenditure needed to implement the elections.
   
   
4. In terms of personnel cooperation, the Government of Japan has already dispatched two experts on the Balkans to the OSCE Kosovo Mission.