BRDO -- Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic today "spoke briefly and shook hands" with Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci, ahead of a conference in Slovenia.

The encounter occurred regardless of the controversy between Belgrade and Pristina caused by Thaci's intention to attend an NGO's conference in Belgrade.

Foreign ministers from the region, among them Dacic and Thaci, gathered in Brdo near Kranj for a conference entitled "The Brdo Process" to discuss further possibilities and steps to improve cooperation.

The hosts of the conference are foreign ministers of France and Slovenia Karl Erjavec and Laurent Fabius, while the gathering is attended by EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, as well as State Secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs Markus Ederer.

The participants' informal chat before the start of the meeting was an opportunity for Dacic and Thaci to shake hands and exchange a few words, even though Thaci told an Austrian daily this morning that Belgrade's moves concerning his planned and canceled visit "would not go without consequences."

Thaci was put on trial in absentia in 1998 and sentenced to ten years in prison on terrorism charges, and was last week informed that he would be arrested if he traveled to Belgrade.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor said today that the conference looks to "encourage a friendly discussion about the future of Southeast Europe, primarily the Western Balkans," and "urged the participants to bravely address the most difficult problems in the region."

Commenting on EU enlargement, Pahor noted that the focus should be on the political significance, rather than the technical aspect of the process.

"There is nothing wrong with the EU wanting to tend to its own needs first, but the aspirations of people in the Western Balkans to join the EU should not be ignored," he added.

The countries in the region should strive to resolve their bilateral issues before they escalate, stressed Pahor.

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