One day ago, the albanian press declared that : "Athens will regonize Kosovo"

"Greece won't recognize Kosovo"

19 November 2008
Greek Ambassador to Belgrade Christos Panagopoulos told Tanjug on Wednesday that his country's position on Kosovo remains unchanged.Panagopoulos said the position of the Greek government and its foreign ministry has not changed, and that Greece "will not recognize any time soon Kosovo, in keeping with respect of territorial integrity of states".

Priština daily Koha Ditore has misquoted Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis as saying that Athens will allegedly recognize Kosovo soon, Panagopouls said. Any wrong interpretation or undue tension should be avoided, as Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković when he visited Athens one week ago, he said.

"I do not know what will happen later, but I do know that we will not recognize Kosovo in the near future," Panagopoulos told the news agency, stressing this was "a very categorical position". Albanian television channel Vision said, and Koha Ditore, along with some other regional media outlets, cited its report that Bakoyannis announced a recognition of Kosovo. This media report was denied by the Greek foreign ministry earlier on Wednesday.