TIRANA, Albania, April 3 -- Albania's Prime Minister Ilir Meta and Serb Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic met in Athens, Greece, Tuesday and discussed the stability of Macedonia, according to Meta's office
The meeting was the first high-level one since 1912, when Albania became an allied protectorate.
Through the decades that followed, Kosovo was the bone of contention between the two Balkan countries.
"Premier Meta and Serb Prime Minister Djindjic shared the same opinion about the need to solve Macedonian issues by a political dialogue," said a press release issued by Meta's office after the historic meeting.
Meta met Djindjic in Athens during an international conference on leadership strategy in the 21st century. Former U.S. President George Bush, former U.S. Secretary of Defence William Cohen and Javier Solana, chief the EU foreign policy, are taking part in the conference.
Both premiers expressed common interest in "strengthening the peace and stability in Macedonia and in the Balkans," and improving the bilateral relations between Tirana and Belgrade.
"We are committed to creating a new climate between the two countries, building new relations based on our responsibility to change the previous relationship (born) from past conflicts," the press release said.
The recent violence in Macedonia has brought to the surface questions about support for a greater Albania.
Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo and Macedonia have a single objective: the dream of a "greater Albania," including the Serbian province now under the United Nation's administration, plus an adjoining chunk carved out of northern Macedonia, and Albania itself, according to many Western analysts.
Tirana has several times rejected this contention. "It is a production of a few Balkan countries that wish a weak Albanian voice in regional issues, and not an (important) factor in the regional future," Paskal Milo, Albanian foreign minister, has said.
No Albanian party in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia has proclaimed this goal. Milo has said that there are individuals without influence in Albanian politics who have called for a great Albania, although ordinary Albanians do not want unification with Kosovo or Macedonia.
U.N. officials had hoped to resolve Kosovo's political future by holding a referendum so that Kosovo Albanians could decide whether to become an independent state, or remain a Serb province. But ethnic Albanian separatists maintain that Kosovo is theirs by right -- not as the result of a future referendum.
In September, the democratic government that replaced Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia said it is prepared to abide by the results of a referendum, but is not about to hand Kosovo to ethnic Albanians on a plate.
The Albanian premier wished Djindjic success with the democratic process in Serbia, and at the same time asked him to use his influence with the Serbian minority in Kosovo to help build democratic institutions there.
Djindjic was quoted as saying "after a decade of conflicts, the Balkans have a chance to (change) and benefit from peace, cooperation and integration."
