AFP, June 06, 2003
EU condemns killing of Serbs in Kosovo
ATHENS, (AFP) - The European Union's Greek presidency said Thursday that the brutal murder of three Serbs in Kosovo undermined efforts to bring peace in the war-torn breakaway Serb province.
"The presidency of the EU unequivocally condemns the brutal murder of three unarmed civilians of the Serbian community, longtime residents of the Obilic village in Kosovo," the statement said.
"This murder threatens the very foundations of the international community's efforts to build a multi-ethnic Kosovo," the text added.
Earlier in the day, Europian Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana also condemned the incident.
An elderly Serb couple and their son were axed to death and their house was set on fire Wednesday in one of the worst incidents of violence in Kosovo in recent months, a United Nations official said.
The murders came hours before Solana was due to arrive in the southern Serbian province in an apparent bid to win support for a meeting of Serb and Albanian leaders at an upcoming EU summit in Greece this month.
The violence is likely to further fuel the deep animosity between the two communities and complicate UN efforts to find political common ground between the Albanian government in Kosovo and the Serbian authorities in Belgrade.
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