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PRISTINA : Macedonia and Kosovo have settled a long-running border dispute, the two governments said on Saturday, paving the way for them to establish full diplomatic ties.
Parliamentarians in Kosovo voted Saturday to approve the deal, struck late on Friday, with 81 of the 120 members backing the motion.
At 1750 GMT, their counterparts in Macedonia were still voting but are expected to ratify the agreement.
No further details were released on the border deal but Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said earlier on Saturday that it respected "the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and the peaceful settlement of disputes."
Media reports in Macedonia said Skopje and Pristina disagreed over the border demarcation that runs close to the Macedonian villages of Debalde and Tanusevci.
The border was agreed upon in 2001 between Belgrade and Skopje when Kosovo was still part of Serbia.
Kosovan premier Thaci also said this new deal would make it easier for Kosovans who own land in Macedonian territory to cross the border.
Skopje recognised Kosovo's independence in October 2008, six months after ethnic Albanian authorities there declared it had split from Serbia.
It has so far been recognised by 62 countries, including the United States and most of the European Union countries.
But Macedonia refused to establish full diplomatic relations with Pristina until the border dispute was resolved.
Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy representative, hailed the agreement as a "a welcome sign of maturity, responsibility and mutual respect."
Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, echoed Solana's comments, describing the news as "an encouraging sign of responsibility and maturity" in the relationship between the two governments.
The European Commission on Wednesday recommended in a report that negotiations begin with Macedonia on joining the European Union, almost four years after it was made a candidate.
- AFP /ls
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