Greek support for Kosovo talks
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis yesterday threw Greece’s support behind negotiations aimed at resolving the disputed status of Kosovo during a visit to Pristina that rounded off her two-day tour of the Balkans. Bakoyannis stressed the importance of the talks being carried out with respect for UN guidelines and highlighted the need to protect Serbia’s cultural heritage. She also had talks with Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu, the United Nations’ top envoy to the province Soren Jessen-Petersen and an unofficial meeting with Agim Ceku, the former ethnic Albanian rebel commander who has been nominated to replace Bajram Kosumi as Kosovo’s prime minister but whose appointment is being protested by Serbs who regard him as a war criminal. Bakoyannis is due to continue her talks in Vienna this morning with the UN’s mediator in the Kosovo talks Martti Ahtisaari and with her Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
