(adds Macedonian parliament, U.S. reaction and quote from PM) PRISTINA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Kosovo and Macedonian parliaments on Saturday ratified an agreement ending an eight-year dispute between the two countries over a border region used by gunmen and smugglers. The deal, signed late on Friday, was the culmination of months of negotiations under the auspices of the European Union and the United States, which has more than 1,000 soldiers patrolling the zone on the Kosovo side. "The leadership of both countries has shown significant resolve and taken a major step forward to ensure regional stability", the U.S. embassy in Skopje said a statement. The area under dispute was used by Albanian guerrillas during Macedonia's rebel Albanian insurgency in 2001. Police say the area is now used by smugglers. Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told parliament the agreement aimed to "develop good neighbourly relations, stability (and) regional cooperation". Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said the agreement would bring greater stability because it settled an important regional question. "I'm deeply convinced that this is a great success for Macedonia, because we are closing the border issue that for years nobody could solve", Gruevski told reporters. Macedonia, which last year recognised Kosovo as an independent state, said it would establish diplomatic relations with the breakaway Serbian province only once the border issue was resolved. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost 10 years after a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serbian forces to stop the killing of Albanians in a counter-insurgency war. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo's independence. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci in Pristina and Kole Casule in Skopje, editing by Andrew Dobbie)
An employee of the Albanian Mine Action Executive project trains in the north eastern of Kukes district, some 150 km (93 miles) from Tirana October 7, 2009. Hundreds of Albanians were ...
Kosovo
