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(From AP Worldstream)
Byline: LLAZAR SEMINI
Balkan leaders pledged Thursday to work together to prevent the return of ethnic violence that wracked the region in the 1990s.
The presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro stressed the need for closer ties as they gathered in Tirana for a two-day summit on ethnic and religious tolerance.
Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic said solving the status of Kosovo, which remains under U.N. administration, will be a major test for the Balkan countries as they aspire to integrate with their Western European neighbors.
"Kosovo today is the litmus test of our readiness to show in deed our commitment to European values and the values of modern civilization," said Marovic, the highest Belgrade official to visit Albania in 50 years.
He said the province's future should be decided primarily by those living there _ ethnic Albanians, Serbs, Montenegrins and other groups.