Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said on Saturday any attempt to link Serbia's European perspective with the developments in Kosovo would be erroneous and counter-productive.

On the European perspective of the Western Balkans, the minister said "this rapprochement must not be linked to issues other than the European prerequisites. Any attempt at linking Serbia's European perspective with the developments in Kosovo would be erroneous and counter-productive."

This position was endorsed by her Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts Ivaylo Kalfin and Adrian Cioroianu, respectively.

The three foreign ministers, who represent the NATO and EU member countries in Southeast Europe, met in Athens on Saturday and agreed to boost their cooperation in view of the critical developments in Kosovo and the difficult situation in Serbia, and also reaffirmed their devotion to the European perspective of the western Balkans, which was rejuvenated by the recent Greek initiative "5 proposals with a timetable."

To a question on whether this would eliminate an incentive to Serbia for finding a solution to the Kosovo issue, Bakoyannis replied: "We don't want to place Serbia before a dilemma. No one wishes to put forward the dilemma of the European perspective with Kosovo as the counterbalance."

She stressed, however, that the European perspective of the Balkan neighbors must be founded on firm foundations such as respect of International Law, the International Treaties, good neighbor relations, peaceful resolution of differences, and seeking mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding issues.

Regarding the future status of Kosovo, Bakoyannis said that "we must act with lucidity, without haste, because it is a complex and complicated problem, and we must give diplomacy the opportunity to achieve a viable solution that will contribute to regional stability."

In their joint communique, the three foreign ministers stress the need for the signing of an Association and Stability Pact with Serbia as soon as possible, and for the encouragement of the other countries of the region to also submit accession requests to the EU, while they also express the hope that the European Council ( summit) of December 2008 will grant candidate status to every applicant.

On a regional level, they stressed the importance of cooperation in the framework of the Black Sea Cooperation Economic Cooperation and the new EU neighborhood in the Black Sea.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2007)