ATHENS, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - A joint border committee has signed a deal demarcating the border between Kosovo and Macedonia, the Kosovar media said on Saturday.
The record signed on Friday after months of negotiations could be ratified by the two countries' parliaments later on Saturday.
The information was confirmed by high-ranking international officials in Pristina, with no official confirmation yet available from Skopje, the Macedonian International News Agency (MINA) reported.
The Kosovar paper Koha Ditore quoted Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Abdilaqim Ademi as saying that diplomatic ties would be established immediately.
The border between Macedonia and the Yugoslavia was demarcated in 2001. Although Skopje recognized Kosovo as independent, the two have been unable to solve the dispute over a border area where Albanians staged protests against the demarcation in 2001. A U.S. peacekeeping contingent is still deployed in the sector where Macedonian land is owned by Kosovo Albanians.
A total of 62 countries have so far recognized Kosovo which proclaimed independence from Serbia last February. Serbia and Russia remain staunch opponents of the move.
