Athens/Belgrade, 22nd April: The representatives of the Serbian opposition parties, the [Orthodox] Church, the diaspora and non-governmental organizations have agreed today in Athens to form a council of democratic forces in Serbia, Beta has been told by Democratic Party (DS) Deputy Chairman Zoran Zivkovic.
Zivkovic said in a telephone statement from Athens that the gathering ended with the passing of a declaration. The main part of the declaration is the formation of the council, the members of which will be the representatives of the opposition parties, the diaspora, the student Resistance [Otpor] movement, the G17 Plus non-governmental organization, the Serbs from Croatia and the [Bosnian] Serb Republic.
The council will be chaired by Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and Serbian Patriarch Pavle, that is, their representatives, Zivkovic said. He also conveyed his impressions from the talks with Greek Foreign Yeoryios Papandreou saying that on the behalf of the Greek government Papandreou expressed the wish to help the opposition in Serbia, the non-governmental organizations and the return process of the Serbs to Kosovo and Croatia. "For us it is very important that the Greek government so clearly showed that it is extending full support to the democratic forces in Serbia," Zivkovic said...
Papandreou received Alliance for Change coordinator Vladan Batic, DS Chairman Zoran Djindjic, Nis Mayor Zoran Zivkovic, Christian Democratic Party of Serbia Deputy Chairman Milorad Savicevic, Serb National Council in Croatia Chairman Milorad Pupovac and representatives of the student Resistance movement...
Vladan Batic added that "the very fact that Papandreou received us is the best proof of the U-turn in the Greek government's policy, which until now had no contacts with the Serbian opposition".
Yeoryios Papandreou told the opposition representatives that he saw "a new vision of Serbia in the future, which Greece will support significantly because it wants to have a certain amount of influence in the region," Batic said.
The Greek foreign minister "sees Kosovo as a part of Serbia, which is something on which we insisted during the talks," Batic said. Papandreou today also held separate talks with the representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo.
Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1801 gmt 22 Apr 00