TIRANA, Oct 27 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who on Monday arrived in Tirana, and his Albanian counterpart Alfred Moisiu, agreed that the status of Kosovo could be solved only through dialogue.
TIRANA, Oct 27 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who on
Monday arrived in Tirana, and his Albanian counterpart Alfred
Moisiu, agreed that the status of Kosovo could be solved only
through dialogue. #L#
"It is better to negotiate than to wage a war. Kosovo now has state
institutions, and so does Belgrade, therefore negotiations are
possible," said Mesic, who today began his two-day official visit
to Albania.
No matter how much time negotiations will take, the decision on
Kosovo's status cannot be adopted without the will of the people of
Kosovo, he added.
"We cannot predict when negotiations on Kosovo's status will
commence," Albania's Moisiu said adding that the start of the talks
must not be procrastinated, as this might create a favourable
climate for extremist activities.
The Albanian president said his country supported negotiations
which Belgrade and Pristina had recently launched in Vienna.
Mesic and his host discussed bilateral relations and their
countries' bids to join Euro-Atlantic integration processes.
"Albania supports Croatia's application for EU membership, and it
is in Croatia's interest to see European standards being applied in
the entire region," Mesic said adding that the two countries were
co-operating well in preparations for admission to NATO.
Albania and Croatia are members of NATO's Partnership for Peace
programme.
In January this year, Albania began negotiations with the EU on a
Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), while Croatia is
expecting EU member-states to ratify its SAA, which it signed with
the EU.
The two presidents described bilateral economic cooperation as
insufficient. They also talked about their countries' interest in
plans to construct an Adriatic-Ionian highway and about traffic
connections between the two countries, especially by air.
Croatian Health Minister Andro Vlahusic and his Albanian
counterpart Mustafa Jani signed an agreement on cooperation and
assistance in public health and medicine.
Croatia's Deputy Finance Minister Damir Kustrak and Albania's
Finance Minister Kastriot Islami signed an agreement on
cooperation in the field of customs administration and tariffs.
Asked about the position of the Albanian minority in Croatia, Mesic
said it was playing an important role in Croatia's small and medium-
sized businesses.
(hina) ms