Kosovo boosted by four-nation Balkan summit

(VLORA) - The presidents of Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro held a summit here Wednesday on EU and NATO integration that gave equal status to their Kosovo counterpart for the first time.

"There are no more outstanding issues that could prevent the dialogue and cooperation between our countries," host President Bamir Topi told a press conference in the central Albanian town of Vlora.

"These (countries) are ready to work together for their integration into Euro-Atlantic structures," said Topi.

The summit, also attended by Macedonia's George Ivanov and Montenegro's Filip Vujanovic, is the first of its kind where Kosovo is formally represented by its president, Fatmir Sejdiu.

Previously, officials from ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo attended such gatherings under the umbrella of the post-war UN administration in the breakaway Serbian province.

"Dialogue and cooperation are essential for peace and stability, but also for the integration of our countries into the European Union," said the Albanian president.

"The current situation is positive in the Balkan region and there are no outstanding issues that could prevent cooperation between our countries," said Topi.

Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February last year, was not invited to the Central Europe Summit held in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad last week.

Its statehood has been recognised by 60 nations including the United States and most of the European Union, but rejected as illegal by Serbia and its ally Russia.