Slovenia conference "mission impossible"
Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said that getting "Serbia and Kosovo to participate" in the EU-Balkan summit "appears to be an impossible mission".
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, March 12, 2010
"But, there are many who believe that if someone can do it, we can. Our success is not guaranteed, we are working on it," Pahor said.
He and Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor decided in January to organize a summit on March 20 in Slovenia dedicated to speeding up the European integration of the Western Balkans.
This would be the first meeting of all regional leaders in the last 20 years.
The Slovenian and Croatian PMs are hoping that they will be able to convince the Serbian delegation to participate in the conference along with the Kosovo Albanian officials, whose unilaterally proclaimed independence Belgrade does not recognize.
Serbia refused to participate in international conferences at which Kosovo is not represented as a delegation headed by UNMIK.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Tuesday that he will only participate in the conference as a representative of Kosovo.
"I believe that we will succeed. If we fail, the question is what results will the Butmir process (for a constitutional reform of Bosnia) produce and what will be the destiny of the Balkans," Pahor said, adding that he is in constant contact with Kosor and other European leaders.
