Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [Albania is already a crime-ridden NATO statelet; FYROM is ninety percent there; Greece has its troops in FYROM, other NATO troops in its own country, and both it and Bulgaria are next on the firing line. But the foreign ministers of their Western puppet regimes gather to "work for peace and territorial integrity" - as though their criminal collaboration with NATO in its war against Yugoslavia in 1999 hasn't insured that there is no peace and no territorial integrity in FYROM, the Balkans and most of the world currently. Nor will there be until the cause of the unrest and destabilization - NATO and its chief national components - are either dismantled or reined in.] KATHIMERINI ATHENS, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2001 Balkan states promise to work for peace Ministers of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM meet at Prespes crossroad The foreign ministers of Greece, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria met at a point where the first three countries meet and pledged to work for peace and the territorial integrity of FYROM. Thirty Olympic champions from Balkan countries also gathered at the Prespes lakes and issued an appeal for an international truce during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City next year. "(We) agreed to work toward peace," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said after talks with his three counterparts in the northern Greek town of Florina. "I hope that, finally, we can resolve our problems among ourselves." The calls for peace came as a NATO force deployed in FYROM to collect weapons that ethnic Albanian rebels have agreed to hand over. The difficulties facing the allied force (of which Greece is a leading member with a contingent of 411 soldiers) were highlighted yesterday by the Skopje government spokesman's angry declaration that NATO's estimate that 3,300 weapons had to be handed over "is not a serious figure" and will encourage the rebels "to keep their arms and to continue their war." Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said the NATO figure was "laughable and humiliating for Macedonia." He also called for military action after two Slav-Macedonian employees were killed in an explosion at a motel near Tetovo in rebel-held territory. The meeting in Florina, and that of culture ministers and athletes at the annual Prespes cultural festival, was the first such gathering since Slav-Macedonian and ethnic Albanian parties signed a peace agreement in Skopje on August 13. Papandreou held separate meetings with Ilenka Mitreva of FYROM, Albania's Paskal Milo, and his first meeting with Bulgaria's new foreign minister, Solomon Pasi. He said he also telephoned Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, who said the Balkan countries "should solve their problems on their own." Mitreva also met with her Albanian counterpart. The last of Greece's 411 troops from 525 Mechanized Battalion deployed at Krivolak on the highway between the border and the capital, Skopje, on Saturday afternoon. They are to be given the weapons in order to transport them to Greece where they will be destroyed at the Halyvourgiki steel works at Aspropyrgos near Athens. Opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis yesterday urged the international community, "even at this late hour to ensure that the border between Skopje and Kosovo is sealed." He was speaking at a Balkan conference organized by his party and the Youth of the European People's Party in Halkidiki, northern Greece. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================