[ALBSA-Info] Greece condemns violence along Kosovo border

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Greece condemns violence along Kosovo border
  
ATHENS, March 4 (Reuters) - Greece said on Monday it was increasingly worried 
about escalating violence on the borders between Macedonia and Kosovo and 
called for stronger international pressure to end the fighting. 

Clashes between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Macedonian security forces 
have flared in the past days. On Sunday, three soldiers were killed during 
the violence in a Macedonian village, close to the Kosovo border. 

"The international community must seriously tackle the issue...it must not 
allow the situation to get out of control. This could have serious 
repercussions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis told reporters. 

"There must be a clear message to those who attempt to destabilise the 
region," he said. 

Albanian guerrillas have also been attacking Yugoslav targets in the volatile 
Presevo Valley region of southern Serbia, bordering on Kosovo -- a Yugoslav 
province under international administration since 1999. 

Macedonia, where ethnic Albanians make up almost a third of the population, 
has beefed up security along its Kosovo border over the past week to try to 
contain the violence. 

In Vienna, visiting Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou condemned the 
recent violence in southern Serbia and Macedonia and said the region's 
problems should be resolved peacefully, through negotiation. 

"We condemn violence and any extremist acts. This is not the way we solve 
problems in the Balkans," Papandreou told a news conference after meeting 
Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner. 

Papandreou called for respect for international law and borders and said 
violence would only generate more violence. 

"Yes, the Albanians there in southern Serbia do have problems," he said. 
"However we have a situation where the Yugoslav government not only 
recognises these problems but is very willing to work to solve these problems 
in a democratic way."