国际新闻：Greek FM calls on dialogue for Balkan stability

At a two-day round-table discussion in Athens on "The Balkans as a source of security and stability in Europe," she called the European prospect "the driving force for achieving the necessary changes and reforms inside the countries of the region", explaining that "full compliance with the conditions set out by the EU is the only way to ensure the full accession of the SE European countries into the European family".

She also stressed the need for further development of regional cooperation, emphasizing that Greece was contributing decisively in that direction both through the Greek investments in the countries of the region, which the foreign minister noted were in excess of 18 billion dollars, and through its participation in the construction of infrastructure projects as well as in a series of other sectors, including cooperation in the fields of education, tourism, culture and others.

The two most important issues, she continued, were ensuring stability in Kosovo through a viable and functional settlement that would be backed by a relevant UN resolution and without the imposition of tight time boundaries, and accelerating the domestic reforms in the countries of the region so as to achieve stability in the democratic institutions.

Bakoyannis welcomed the reopening of negotiations between Serbia and the EU, describing as "fragile" the situation in the region following the end of the clashes of the 1990s, and stressed that "peace in the region is far from being guaranteed".

The event, financed by the U.S. Service for International Development and the foreign ministries of Greece and Switzerland, will run through Saturday at a central Athens hotel, under the Aegis of the Greek Foreign Ministry.

It is attended by political leaders from all the countries of Southeast Europe, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the US, as well as officials of the Council of Europe, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United Nations (UN).