Greece, Romania and Bulgaria call for closer EU-Serbia ties 22 December 2007, 17:32 CET
(ATHENS) - The Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian foreign ministers on Saturday called for greater EU rapprochement with Serbia, but said it should not be a trade off for independence for Serbia's province of Kosovo. After meeting in Athens, the ministers issued a statement stressing "the need to bring Serbia closer to the EU, and, as a first step, they consider adequate the prompt signing of the Stabilisation and Association agreement." "The December European Council of 2008 could decide about granting candidate status to any applicant country," including Serbia, they added. They warned against linking Kosovo's future status with EU rapprochement. "Not one of us is trying to say to Serbia that European perspective is a trade off for Kosovo ... we don't want to put Serbia in front of this dilemma," Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said. Kosovo is expected to declare unilaterally its independence early in 2008 following the collapse of international attempts to reach a negotiated deal with Serbia. Belgrade, backed by Moscow, says it is willing to offer Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority broad autonomy but not independence, as it views the province as its historic heartland. Kosovo has been administered by the UN since NATO bombed Belgrade in 1999 to end a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians, and the Albanian majority has been impatient for independence ever since. Bakoyannis, along with her Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts, Ivaylo Kalfin and Adrian Cioroianu, underlined the importance of an EU decision to send a police mission to Kosovo. They said all three countries would substantially participate. Russia said this week the mission might be acceptable if it was approved by the United Nations and Serbia. Cioroianu said the mission should be sent "as soon as possible". Refusing to speculate on the Kosovo issue, the ministers called for further international efforts to prevent a crisis. "We must generate a political process to keep the region as peaceful as possible," Kalfin said. Greece and Romania are among the EU countries most reluctant to the idea of Kosovo's independence. Bulgaria borders Serbia and has long been engaged in finding a solution to the Kosovo controversy amid concerns that a dispute between the province's government and Serbia could bring instability to the whole Balkans region. Text and Picture Copyright 2007 AFP. All other Copyright 2007 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1198341122.37
