Source: B92, Beta
(Tanjug)
He was referring to last week's clashes that left eight Macedonian police officers and 14 ethnic Albanian terrorists dead.
"Our cooperation is very good, I spoke to Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic about Serbia's presidency of the OSCE, and OSCE's activities in Ukraine and the Balkans. We are concerned about the growing tendency of terrorism in the Balkans, it is of principled importance that our partners from Europe, especially from the EU do not neglect these problems. There is the risk of facing new misfortunes... 20 years ago no one could imagine that the situation would flare up and threaten to explode," said Lavrov.
Lavrov also commented on the participation of Serbian soldiers in Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, that was also attended by Nikolic, to say it demonstrated "our joint determination not to allow catastrophes to repeat themselves."
"Russian President Vladimir Putin was happy about your arrival to Moscow and the efforts to increase the importance of our historic friendship," Lavrov stressed.
Earlier in the day, he met with Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic and during a joint press conference pointed out to the "inflammatory statements by Albanian officials":
"I expressed our concern over the increased talk about the so-called Greater Albania. This is the path towards open confrontation in the Balkans, and I do not think that any politician should speak about it and call for the creation of a Greater Albania. We are also concerned about Macedonia and the fact that these could be expressions of well-prepared terrorist ambitions. We are concerned about Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Islamic State was already active in the Balkans, I am sure that Brussels sees it, but admits that it knows what is going on in the Balkansshyly."
During his meeting with Lavrov, Tomislav Nikolic said that the Balkans is experiencing a setback "of several years" due to the desire of Kosovo and Albania to create a unified Albanian state.
Nikolic told his guest that Serbia finds "immensely important" the support it is given by Russia in the UN Security Council when it comes to Kosovo.
"Your stance in the Security Council is very clear and we are grateful for that," Nikolic said.
The president added that Serbia and Russia are "close exactly where the hot spots are."
"The Balkans - after several years when Serbia made efforts for it to be an oasis of peace - is being set back several years and all that is the consequence of the so-called independent state of Kosovo and its desire, and the desire of Albania, to create a Greater Albania state that would grab the borders of four surrounding countries," he said.
Lavrov noted that Russia was worried about the terrorist tendencies in the Balkans and added this should not be neglected because of risk of new tragedies.
He said that Serbia and Russia "should make concerted efforts to prevent a new redrawing of borders." Lavrov praised the Serbian chairmanship of the OSCE "for its balanced approach."
Nikolic described economic cooperation between the two countries as "exceptional" and said he was sorry to learn that the South Stream project was abandoned, because, as he said, "Serbia fears what will happen in 2018" when Russia stops shipping gas via Ukraine.
Lavrov noted that Serbia increased exports of food products to Russia and added that the two countries should strengthen cooperation in investment, while Russia's current investments reach some USD 4 billion. Russian businesspeople want to take part in the privatizations, he said.
Noting his country's "high marks" for Serbian soldiers' participation in the Victory Day parade - "aware that it happened in the context of attempts to reduce the importance of this holiday" - Lavrov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "would be happy to again talk to Serbia's president in Moscow."
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