Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Albanian foreign minister to discuss Kosovo during visit to Belgrade

(c) 2005. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albanian Foreign Minister Kastriot Islami will visit Belgrade Thursday to discuss bilateral and regional issues, his office said Wednesday.

Islami, invited by his Serbian-Montenegrin counterpart Vuk Draskovic, will meet with the country's top leaders to discuss their countries' efforts to qualify for European Union and NATO memberships, and regional political and economic developments, said a statement.

Kosovo, an Albanian-dominated province which formally remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, and is administered by the United Nations since mid-1999 when a NATO air war ended a Serb crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians, will be a topic of discussion.

Draskovic was the highest level official from Serbia-Montenegro to visit Albania since the two nations re-established diplomatic ties in 2002.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic cut ties with Albania during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict, accusing Albania of aiding independence-minded ethnic Albanian rebels in the volatile Serbian province.

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