[ALBSA-Info] Greece urges EU to act in Serbia

[Iris Pilika]

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Greece urges EU to act in Serbia


February 22, 2001
Web posted at: 1256 GMT


ATHENS, Greece -- Greece is calling for a stronger European Union presence 
in southern Serbia as part of a package of proposals to try to end violence 
in the area.

Ahead of Friday's Balkans summit, Greece also said NATO should be more 
outspoken in its condemnation of ethnic Albanian armed groups' activity.

"An enhanced presence of EUMM (European Union Monitoring Mission) in 
southern Serbia must be rapidly established and operational," a text 
released by the Greek foreign ministry said.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou will present the proposals to his 
Balkan counterparts before the summit in Skopje.

"The international community and the EU in particular should unequivocally 
condemn the ethnic Albanian warlords and terrorist groups," the text said. 
"An adequate message should also be sent to Tirana.

"NATO should be encouraged to adopt stronger language in condemning the 
actions of ethnic Albanian armed groups."

Renewed violence in Kosovo and clashes in southern Serbia are expected to 
dominate the summit, which will also discuss Montenegro's drive towards 
independence and other regional issues.

Papandreou will also call for confidence-building measures to ease tension 
between the ethnic Allbanians and Serbs and the promotion of infrastructure 
projects to boost economic development.

The leaders of Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Greece, 
Turkey and Romania will attend the meeting in the Macedonian capital. 
Croatia will be an observer.

Violence precedes summit
Sporadic fighting in Serbia's nearby Presevo Valley, which has a large 
ethnic Albanian population, has left about 30 people dead since early last 
year with three Serbian policemen killed by anti-tank landmines on Sunday.

A sniper also wounded a Yugoslav army soldier in an area of Serbia bordering 
Kosovo where ethnic Albanian guerrillas are active, Yugoslav authorities 
said on Wednesday.

The summit is due to be attended by European Union foreign policy chief 
Javier Solana and Commissioner for External Affairs Chris Patten as well as 
Stability Pact coordinator Bodo Hombach.

A draft summit declaration addresses three main points of the latest Balkan 
instability -- renewed violence in Kosovo, related clashes in southern 
Serbia and Montenegro's drive towards independence.

The document urges authorities in Serbia and Montenegro, the two remaining 
republics of former Yugoslavia, to reach a mutually acceptable solution and 
stresses "the importance of avoiding unilateral actions which may jeopardise 
negotiations."

At least 10 people, including a two-year-old child, died in a bomb attack on 
a bus carrying Serbs in Kosovo last week.

Nobody has claimed responsibility, but Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica 
blamed "Albanian extremists" for the attack, saying they threatened the 
stability of the Balkan region.

During the summit, leaders of Yugoslavia and Macedonia are to sign an accord 
to mark borders, a thorny issue for 10 years.

Greece and Macedonia also appear close to resolving a 10-year dispute over 
the latter's name that has blocked cooperation and hurt the region's 
stability.

Reuters contributed to this report.


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