U.S. Embassy Statement on the Constitutional Reform Process

August 3, 2005

The United States welcomes the agreement by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to the amendments to the constitution and looks forward to their adoption at the November national referendum.

We continue to support the efforts of the Venice Commission and share the view that the revised draft constitutional amendments represent a step forward. We applaud the Government's progress toward democratic and constitutional reforms.

The process, however, is far from over.

We hope that the Government takes the appropriate steps to open the discussion to the public and gain the consensus necessary to ultimately pass a referendum.

When the National Assembly meets in August, we hope legislators will take seriously the Council of Europe's recommendations, and that government and opposition parties will engage in constructive debate to successfully bring meaningful constitutional reforms to a referendum in November.