[ALBSA-Info] Greek Minister Opposes Free Kosovo

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Greek Minister Opposes Free Kosovo
 
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Greece's foreign minister rejected the 
independence aspirations of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians on Friday, a day after 
meeting with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. 

``We are not in favor of dividing people but uniting them within a united 
Europe,'' Foreign Minister George Papandreou told reporters in Pristina, the 
Kosovo capital. 

Kosovo formally remains part of Serbia, the largest Yugoslav republic, even 
though it has been run by NATO and the United Nations since NATO bombing last 
year forced Milosevic to pull out his troops. But the nearly 2 million 
Albanians in Kosovo want independence. 

Greece, a NATO member with traditionally close ties to the Serbs, maintains 
it is in a good position to help ease ethnic hostility in the Balkans. 

Papandreou was the first ranking Western official to visit Yugoslavia after 
last year's air strikes to stop Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanians in 
Kosovo. He met Milosevic in Belgrade on Thursday. 

``We would like to have a multicultural society and we are not in favor of an 
ethnically cleansed society,'' Papandreou said. 

He echoed Western concerns about manipulation in Yugoslavia's parliamentary 
and presidential elections scheduled for Sept. 24, in which the Kosovo's 
minority serbs will be allowed to vote. 

U.N. officials administering war-ravaged Kosovo fear a surge in violence 
before the elections, which polls show strongman Milosevic trailing the 
opposition candidate. 

``The world will be watching (the elections) very closely,'' he said. 

NATO has boosted its troop presence in Kosovo ahead of the Yugoslav elections 
and municipal polls in the province itself next month.