Cooling of relations between Greece and Yugoslavia

Papandreou: Talks with Milosevic were 'cold'

In this story: Visit angered U.S. Greece discussed visit with EU RELATED STORIES, SITES

ATHENS, Greece -- Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou's visit to Belgrade highlighted the growing rift between Yugoslavia and its closest European Union friend.

Serbian police arrested opposition members at a Papandreou reception while statements issued after his talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic were cold at best.

Most of the Greek media -- which was vehemently opposed to last year's NATO war in Kosovo and usually reflects the public's traditional closeness to fellow Orthodox Serbia -- was also lukewarm.

"Two-sided fiasco in Belgrade," said the front-page headline in the respected Kathimerini daily. It added that there was "ice" between the two countries.

Other newspapers echoed the view, saying Papandreou's calls for fair Yugoslav elections fell on deaf ears and angered the Belgrade government.

One analyst said the growing distance between Greece and Yugoslavia showed Athens was moving closer to its European Union allies, getting better information on its traditional Balkan friend and judging the political scene there more objectively.

"Greek foreign policy is increasingly aligned with EU policy," said Theodoros Couloumbis of the ELIAMEP foreign policy think tank. "Greek and EU policy do not equate Milosevic with the Serbian people."

In recent months Greece has criticised Belgrade -- which is suffering under Western-imposed sanctions because of its role in the bloody breakup of the Yugoslav federation during the 1990s -- for its crackdown on the press and political opposition.

Asked about Greek-Serbian relations, Papandreou said in Kosovo on Friday: "It is based on principle."

Papandreou, the only NATO government minister to visit Serbia since the Kosovo conflict, used the visit to urge Milosevic to ensure that the election on September 24 is fai

"We expect the world must be watching these elections very carefully," Papandreou told reporters in Kosovo. "That was a very strong message, a European message."

The visit angered the United States.

A State Department official said it was "unfortunate that any European leader of Papandreou's stature would have to meet with an indicted war criminal."

Both Milosevic and Serbian President Milan Milutinovic have been indicted by a U.N. court for war crimes allegedly committed by Yugoslav forces in Kosovo last year.

Papandreou has underlined that his visit was a Greek initiative but that he had discussed the matter with his EU counterparts.

Papandreou has kept up contact with Milosevic's opposition, allowing meetings in Athens and holding lengthy talks on Thursday with opposition presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica, who opinion polls show enjoys a wide lead over Milosevic.

The incident that underlined the growing rift occurred when members of the student-based movement Otpor (Resistance), invited to a diplomatic reception in Papandreou's honour, were arrested by Serbian police outside the Greek embassy gates.

The activists, denounced regularly by the Belgrade government as a terrorist and fascist organisation, were freed after a furious Papandreou protested.

From Milosevic's side, the Papandreou visit elicited praise for the Greek people's "solidarity" with Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war, but also denunciations of the Western policy.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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