SETimes.comDiplomatic Diary: Leaders of Albania, Greece, Macedonia meet
01/12/2009
The prime ministers of three Balkan countries discuss the protection of Prespa National Park. Also in diplomatic news: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Tripoli and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was in Skopje.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his Greek and Macedonian counterparts -- George Papandreou and Nikola Gruevski -- held an informal meeting at Lake Prespa, Greece, on Friday (November 27th) to discuss opportunities for co-operation to protect Prespa National Park. They agreed to sign a trilateral accord on the region's environmental protection and sustainable development, and to promote co-operation in the fields of water resources, prevention of pollution and protection against erosion.
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Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said on Friday (November 27th) that he does not expect Greece to veto Macedonia's EU accession talks at a European Council summit on December 7th, despite the long-standing name dispute between the two countries. Bildt, who was on a brief visit to Skopje, met with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki to discuss Macedonia's EU integration process and the country's position on the name dispute.
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NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrived on Thursday (November 26th) for a two-day visit to Montenegro. He held talks with Foreign Minister Milan Rocen, Defence Minister Boro Vucinic, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and President Filip Vujanovic. From Montenegro, Rasmussen travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias agreed on November 24th to look for ways to deepen bilateral ties. Parvanov, making a three-day official visit, stressed that both Sofia and Athens support the European perspective of all countries in the Western Balkans. The two presidents discussed events in Southeast Europe, the situation in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cypriot issue, the Macedonian name dispute and Turkey's EU perspective.
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Slovenia will support Macedonia's EU integration process, Slovenian Interior Minister Katarina Kresal said on November 24th after meeting with Macedonian counterpart Gordana Jankulovska. Talks between the two officials focused on the upcoming scrapping of EU visa requirements for Macedonian citizens and co-operation in the fight against organised crime and human trafficking.
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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 24th in Tripoli. They discussed the peace process in the Middle East and possible reforms in the UN. Gaddafi insists on putting an end to the UN's current system in which the organisation's five permanent members have veto rights. Erdogan also met with Libyan counterpart Baghdadi Mahmudi.
(Various sources -- 24/11/09-01/12/09)