Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-09-21

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] President Papoulias receives visiting Serbia and Montenegro president

[01] President Papoulias receives visiting Serbia and Montenegro president

Talks between Papoulias and Marovic covered the Euro-Atlantic prospects of the Balkan countries, the future of Kosovo, bilateral relations and international affairs.

Replying to questions concerning the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Marovic said the countries involved should resolve the differences between them.

"The powers come and go. We who remain here must find a viable solution for the good of the region," he noted.

Papoulias reiterated Greece's position, describing the proposal put forward by special UN mediator Matthew Nimetz as a "proposal that can be discussed, though needing correction".

He said the leadership of FYROM should consider that it was being given a good opportunity to come to the negotiating table, that would benefit its efforts to approach the EU.

"This is something that we know must first pass by Greece," he added.

Both presidents stressed the efforts being made by Serbia and Montenegro to approach with Euro-Atlantic institutions, with Papoulias emphasising Greece's support for Serbia and Montenegro's course.

Problems such as that of Kosovo could be solved within the European family, Papoulis said, noting that it was not a Serb problem but a problem for the entire Balkan region.

"Without stability in the region, we cannot talk about peace," he added.

Marovic stressed the need for a lasting solution to the Kosovo problem and said that this could only be achieved if it arose from an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, without unilateral decisions or solutions imposed by third parties.

He also noted that Serbia's leadership was determined to continue cooperating with the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

Regarding bilateral relations with Greece, Marovic said that they were was "model friendship" between the two countries and said that Belgrade's main priority was the start of negotiations in October for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union.

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