Yugoslavia joins OSCE

11:29 VIENNA, Monday – Vojislav Kostunica this morning signed the documents on which the OSCE is based. By becoming a signatory to the Helsinki Charter, the Paris Declaration and the Istanbul Document, the Yugoslavia has officially become a member of the European security organisation.

The Yugoslav president said at the signing ceremony that the changes which had occurred had enabled the creation of a new democratic order which would respect the values espoused by the OSCE.

Also present at the signing were US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Kostunica is cutting short his attendance at the OSCE conference in Vienna because of the difficult situation in southern Serbia.

The US State Department confirmed that there would be no meeting between the Yugoslav president and Madeleine Albright in Vienna.