Macedonian, Albanian premiers discuss Kosovo solution

Associated Press, Oct 21, 2005 1:39 PM

SKOPJE, Macedonia-Macedonia and Albania on Friday ruled out the redrawing of borders in any deal on the future status of troubled province Kosovo.

Talks should "respect the current borders in the Balkans," Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said during a one-day visit to Macedonia, while also calling for minority rights to be respected.

Kosovo claims some 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of disputed Macedonian territory, since a 2001 border agreement between Macedonia and the former Yugoslavia.

The United Nations has indicated it wants this dispute solved before tackling the overall status of Kosovo later this year. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians demand full independence while Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority insist it remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Kosovo has been run by a U.N. mission, with a strong NATO peacekeeping presence, since mid-1999, when a NATO air war forced former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to end a crackdown against rebel ethnic Albanians in the province.

"It is important at this moment to have a clear position that any solution for Kosovo must not question the current borders in the region," Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski said Friday.

The two prime ministers said they supported each country's bid to join NATO and the European Union.

Berisha also met with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski.