Zoran Djindjic and Christoph Zopel

Belgrade, September 18, 2001 - After a meeting with Christoph Zopel, state minister of the German Foreign Ministry Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic stressed the necessity for global condemnation of all forms of terrorism and political extremism, and supported political dialogue on all outstanding issues in the Balkans.

Djindjic told reporters in the Serbian Government building that the regional situation was discussed in light of the recent terrorist attacks on the US. He mentioned Kosovo, Macedonia and South Serbia as areas highly threatened by terrorism.

The German diplomat said that a peaceful life of coexistence was necessary and stressed that Berlin therefore supported the efforts of Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic in Kosovo.

He said the Kosovo elections "make sense only if those who participate in the elections are assured that there is no danger."

"Therefore that we support Mr. Covic's attempts to find a solution in Kosovo," said Zopel.

Djindjic said that Mr. Zopel would also visit Skopje and Tirana where he would tell the authorities that their "rapid integration into Europe and the democratic world will be measured according to their resoluteness in fighting terrorism."

"We are very satisfied, since our position is the same. We believe a global response to global terrorism, including political terrorism, is necessary," said Djindic.

He explained that political terrorism meant, "propagating violence" with the objective of "changing borders and political conditions" and said that "terror and bomb attacks follow political extremism."

Stressing that the Balkan region in particular needed to adopt the politics of compromise, Djindjic said that the Serbian government was ready to discuss all outstanding issues with all leaders in the region, including ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and all those who support the processes of integration into Europe.