Balkans summit seeks end to violence

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Balkan leaders meet later this week for a summit that has been overshadowed by fresh violence in the region.

Violent clashes in Serbia and Kosovo have all but quashed the optimism nurtured at a similar meeting just four months ago.

The leaders of Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Romania meet on Friday in the Macedonian capital Skopje. Croatia will be an observer.

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.

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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."

Plans by Montenegro's government to hold an independence referendum later this year, opposed by Belgrade which offers talks on a looser federation, have alarmed the West.

For some diplomats, changing any border in the Balkans now is a recipe for trouble -- a move that could encourage breakaway movements in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia.

On Kosovo, the draft document expresses "deep concern over the recent ethnically motivated violence and extremism" in the divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica.

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

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

Macedonian name debate

The Presevo Valley guerrillas, who say they are fighting Serbian repression, have so far ignored both appeals from Belgrade for a dialogue and a blunt demand by NATO to stop.

The previous summit in October was the first between Kostunica and his fellow Balkan leaders. They agreed to work together to create relations in south-east Europe marked by cooperation -- not conflict -- after 10 years of Balkan wars.

But Montenegro's independence drive and the increased violence elsewhere has dealt a blow to hopes of an era of Balkan stability after the downfall of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic last October.

Expectations of a quick inflow of foreign investment in the region have been dashed and the summit is due to consider an action plan for the 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.

"There is a common will, a common language but the talks are on a sensitive balance right now," a Greek foreign ministry official said.

Greece has strongly opposed its northern neighbour's use of the name Macedonia, which also belongs to a northern Greek province, since the republic broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Although no names have been officially announced, sources said Northern or Upper Macedonia were among options under discussion that both countries could live with.

Among other bilateral meetings will be one between the foreign ministers of historical rivals Greece and Turkey.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Kosovo bus bombing condemned
February 16, 2001
Balkan states gather for unity summit
December 1, 2000
Serb violence condemned by neighbours
February 16, 2001

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Republic of Macedonia Government
Hellenic Parliament
European Union

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