Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis says Athens will soon recognise Kosovo's independence because it has to accept the reality of the situation.

Speaking to Albanian media, Bakoyannis declared that Greece will soon recognise Kosovo's independence, although stop short of naming a date for this decision.

"I don't know what will happen later. I can say that we don't actually recognise Kosovo, but we will soon," she stated.

Bakoyannis blamed the delayed recognition on regional conflicts and goals that have inflicted the Balkans for many years but admitted that the truth cannot be changed.

"Kosovo's problem is one of the oldest problems of the Balkans. We do not recognise its independence based on the principle of territorial integrity, but on the other side we know that the flow of the river cannot change," she said.

Bakoyannis added that Greece has good relations with Kosovo.

"We have opened an office there, and deal with affairs between people," she said.

Meanwhile, the Greek foreign minister also highlighted excellent relations with Serbia.

"With Serbia, we have had excellent relations for a long time. We support their ambitions to join the European Union and hope that during the last couple of years improvements have occurred there, which will allow them to become closer to the EU," she said.

Greece is one of the five EU member states that have still not recognised Kosovo's independence. The others are Romania, Spain, Slovakia and Cyprus.

Since declaring independence in February of this year, Kosovo has been recognised by 52 countries around the world.

Source: Balkan Insight