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Kostunica meets with Karamanlis

Athens, 26 May 2004

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica met with Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis yesterday to discuss the situation in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Plan for Kosovo-Metohija reforms, and Serbia’s ambition to join the European Union as soon as possible.

Konstantinos Karamanlis and Vojislav Kostunica

In a telephone interview with the Beta news agency, Kostunica said that the main topic of the talks with Karamanlis was how to ensure that this part Europe joins Europe as soon as possible and added that he wanted to assure Karamanlis that Serbia’s European orientation was more than resolute and unquestionable.

Kostunica said that the Greek government endorses Serbia-Montenegro’s European perspective and that the country has a central position in South Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. He added that apart from the traditional friendship, this is a reason why Karamanlis has stressed his support to Serbia’s European perspective.

“The talks also covered the situation in Serbia-Montenegro. I spoke about the progress that can I see in the functioning of the state union, about Serbia’s European perspective, and particularly about the Serbian government’s Plan for Kosovo-Metohija, with necessary explanations. The plan is really elaborate and well drafted in the legal sense, but it might be insufficiently clear to some foreigners,” said Kostunica.

Asked whether Greece can help to resolve the Kosovo problem, Kostunica gave an affirmative answer, saying that he had stressed how dangerous a further fragmentation of the Balkans could be. Kostunica added that Greece has had experience with the dangers of further shattering of the Balkans.

Kostunica and Karamanlis discussed ways to improve bilateral relations, particularly economic ties. Kostunica said that his participation in the Thessaloniki Forum was an attempt to assure Greek businesspeople that “circumstances in Serbia are stable, that institutions are getting stronger, that administrative procedures related to investment are being simplified, and that what is called a law-governed state is functioning.”

Karamanlis told Greek reporters following the meeting that bilateral relations between the two countries are very good and that the Greek government is watching the reform process in Serbia and recognizes improvement and the creation of a law-governed state.

Karmanlis said that Greece has good relations with Serbia but added that they can further improve, particularly when it comes to economic cooperation, the Tanjug news agency reported. Karamanlis said at a joint press conference with Kostunica, that Serbia-Montenegro, as well as the other countries in the region, can count on Athens’ full support on their way to Europe, since the aim of everyone in the region is to make this part of Europe a safe and prosperous place. He added that Serbia has a significant role in stabilisation in the region, while Prime Minister Kostunica’s moderateness will particularly contribute to that goal.

In his speech at the Thessaloniki Forum yesterday, Kostunica condemned attempts to alter the borders in the Balkans and stressed the need to preserve the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The participants in the economic-political forum in Thessaloniki, which closed last night with the speech by Karamanlis, called on the European Union to put forward a clear policy towards the Balkans and to cooperate with the US and Russia in order to improve the situation in the region.