on Friday on the international community to push harder

for a solution to the Kosovo problem. Majko, who ended

on Friday a two-day visit to Athens, said that there is a

dangerous vacuum in Kosovo, ìwhere neither peace nor

war exists.î He wanted the international community to

push harder for a solution to the dispute between

ethnic-Albanian separatists and the central Yugoslav

authorities. Majko, who discussed with his Greek

counterpart Costas Simitis on solutions to the Kosovo

issue, called for ìimmediate interventionî by the

international community. He said that Kosovo should be

given some sort of ìtemporary statusî. Simitis reiterated

Greeceís position for a political agreement between the

Yugoslav authorities and the regionís ethnic Albanian

guerillas fighting for independence. ìWe call for more

independence in Kosovo but within the existing borders,î

he said. Majko said the Serb security forcesí crackdown in

Kosovo included ìslaughtering innocent women and

children.î He called for a constructive dialogue between all

parties involved in the conflict and said the recent

deployment of international observers to inspect the pullout

of Serb forces was ìa very positive step.î NATO imposed a

settlement to months of fighting in Kosovo last month,

forcing Serb president Slobodan Milosevic to remove his

heavy artillery and security police from the province. The

agreement also calls for an end to hostilities and the

creation of a local police force that will reflect the

population ratio in Kosovo, where there are nine Albanians

for every Serb. Despite the agreement, the violence

continues. And that, said Majko, is an issue the

international community must address. The stability of

Kosovo is closely linked in most minds with the stability of

the wider Balkan region, he said. Albania and Greece

signed on Thursday an agreement for the release of a

GDR5bn ($17.86m) loan to help build apartments for those

that remained homeless during last yearís crisis with the

fall of several pyramid schemes. The sum was the third

tranche of a $71.44 million loan agreed between the two

countries two years ago. Simitis said Greece wanted closer

cooperation with Albania and that Athens was helping to

stabilize its neighbour, troubled by violence and political

upheaval in the past months. Simitis said a large ethnic

Greek minority in southern Albania was a ìbridge of

friendship between the two countriesî and that the

countryís new constitution guaranteed minority rights

according to international standards. Majko thanked

Greece for taking steps to legalise some 500,000 Albanian

immigrants living and working here. ìOur relations should

strengthen further and become an example of cooperation

in the turbulent Balkans,î he said. He said that beyond

talks on state-to-state issues he came to Athens with a

specific request. ìI asked for support to build a new

national theatre in Tirana and I got it. I am very happy

about this,î he said. true