Kosovo, Macedonia Resolve Border Dispute

By VOA News, 17 October 2009

Kosovo and Macedonia have reached a border agreement, ending a long dispute over a volatile border region. Kosovo’ parliament ratified the agreement on the location of the border late Friday. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told a parliament session the agreement will boost regional cooperation and stability.

Macedonia’s parliament has yet to ratify the document. The country’s official news agency MIA says Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stressed the importance of the border demarcation before the parliament Saturday. The border agreement will pave the way for establishing diplomatic relations between the two Balkan countries.

Macedonia has recognized Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, but says it will not establish diplomatic relations before the border issue is resolved. The disputed area is populated by ethnic Albanians, who make up a quarter of Macedonia’s two million people. A group of ethnic Albanian militants led an anti-government insurgency at the disputed border in 2001. Police say the area is now used by smugglers.