PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 22 March 2012 - A representation of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly discussed human rights and minority rights during a visit today to Kosovo, where the OSCE's largest field mission is based.

Assembly Vice-President Riccardo Migliori; Matteo Mecacci, chair of the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions; and Senator Mauro Del Vecchio and Senator Giuseppe Caforio met with Ambassador Werner Almhofer, head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo and other international officials.

The delegation discussed issues related to the presence of OSCE in Kosovo particularly regarding the safeguard of human rights and minorities' rights.

The delegation also visited the Orthodox monastery of Decani and the Patriarchy of Pec, two Orthodox cultural and religious centres guarded by the Italian Army. Members addressed living conditions and the status of the rights of the minorities in that area.

The delegation also visited the KFOR Headquarters and EULEX offices, as well as the Serb enclaves in Southern Kosovo and the city of Mitrovica. The delegation met the deputy minister of foreign affairs, the speaker of the parliament of Kosovo, members of the parliament's committee on foreign affairs, as well as representatives of political parties and parliamentary groups.

The delegation expressed its agreement on comprehensive action by the international community so as to defend the delicate political and institutional balances in the Balkans.

At the end of the mission, the delegation unanimously agreed on the need for the international community to launch a strong political initiative in order to ensure that minorities in Kosovo, and in particular the Serb minority, can enjoy a status of effective autonomy as specified in the 19 Bolzano Recommendations.