The Macedonian president urged at a summit Wednesday that the Yugoslav province of Kosovo should not become an independent entity if long-term stability in the region was to be achieved.
Addressing the Southeastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) conference here, Boris Trajkovski warned that the situation in Kosovo, where leaders have renewed calls for independence since Serb forces withdrew last year, had repercussions for regional security.
He called for respect for the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which defined the UN's mandate in Kosovo at the end of the 1998-1999 war between separatist Kosovo Albanians and Yusoslav forces, giving the province substantial autonomy, but keeping it firmly within Yugoslav boundaries.
Only by respecting this resolution "is it possible to achieve long-term stabilization and in this way finally relax the region," said the president, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the SEECP.
Yugoslavia's new leader, Vojislav Kostunica, is attending the summit, which will mark Belgrade's return to the Balkan fold following the fall from power of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The one-day meeting is the first between heads of state from Belgrade and Skopje since 1995.
Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia account for a quarter of the country's population, and leaders of the community here back the creation of an independent Kosovo.
This has sparked fears among other Macedonians for their own country's integrity and ethnic balance, anxious that this could lead to the creation of a Greater Albania which would cut through national boundaries.
While welcoming Kostunica, Trajkovski warned that there were many issues to be resolved.
"We still face problems in the region. We should not deny that fact or bury our heads in the sand hoping that these problems will go away," he said -- SKOPJE (AFP)
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