Mr. President,
The threat of war in the Balkans is far from over. In spite of years of suffering and lost opportunities, there is still a belief prevailing in the region that political goals can be achieved through the use of force. In the UN, we talk a lot about preventive action. In the Balkans, such action is needed. The positive experience of more than five years of United Nations preventive deployment in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia demonstrates that results can be achieved with relatively limited resources if action is taken early enough.
The Security Council's decision of December 1992 to send United Nations troops to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to prevent spill-over from the on-going conflicts in other parts of the former Yugoslavia was the right step at the right time. The subsequent extensions of the mandate of UNPREDEP have also been highly justified by developments in the region, as was the case last year in Albania. Today the major threat to the stability of Macedonia emanates from the escalating conflict in neighbouring Kosovo. In the present situation, the international support for the sovereignty, stability and peace of Macedonia must be upheld and even strengthened.
As a strong supporter of UNPREDEP and a troop contributor from the very beginning, Sweden welcomes the Secretary-General's recommendations on the extension of the mandate and the strengthening of UNPREDEP. Sweden will continue to contribute to UNPREDEP.
The draft resolution before us today has our full support. It will give UNPREDEP the additional capacity needed to intensify its monitoring activities, especially along the Kosovo stretch of the border. In this context and within the framework of the present mandate, UNPREDEP will also be able to assist in the implementation of the arms embargo recently imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Sweden welcomes the intention stated in today's resolution to consider further the recommendations of the Secretary-General, including a modest but strongly needed increase in the number of military observers and civilian police in the mission. We look forward to the Security Council reverting to this question in the near future.
Thank you, Mr. President.