Satisfaction was expressed by all participants attending the meeting organized in Vouliagmeni by the Greek government on the future of Kosovo, according to an announcement issued on Wednesday.

"All the participants expressed their satisfaction over the outcome of this meeting and confirmed their will to maintain close contact between them in the future and they reiterated their common conviction on finding a solution to the problem (of Kosovo) based on the guiding principles of the Contact Group, that will not only offer peace and stability to the parties involved but to the wider region," said the announcement by the Greek presidency of the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP).

The meeting was attended by high-ranking representatives of the SEECP member-states "for the first time collectively with counterparts of theirs from member-states of the Contact Group and officials of international organizations entrusted with the process of determining the future status quo of Kosovo."

According to the relevant announcement, the participants were briefed at length on the development of negotiations on the future status quo by the alternate special envoy of the UN secretary general A. Rohan and on the on-the-spot situation in the region by the head of the UN mission in Kosovo Soren Jessen-Petersen and expressed their full support for the work of the UN secretary general's special envoy Marti Ahtisaari and his group.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis, who inaugurated the meeting, said that "it is very important that the voice of the region is heard by those who play a leading role in determining the future status quo of Kosovo."

The deputy minister added that "it is important that this meeting contributes to the stabilization of the region, for a European orientation for the entire region in the future and for us to reach solutions which are mutually acceptable and not solutions which have been imposed from outside."

On the sidelines of the Kosovo meeting, Valinakis had a private meeting with Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Hidajet Biscevic for talks on Inter-Balkan Cooperation, ways of cooperation between the Greek presidency and the upcoming Croatian presidency of the SEECP, as well as common action for strengthening the European orientation of southeastern Europe.

Source: Athens News Agency

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