Greece urges EU to act in Serbia

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.

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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