The European Union (EU) stressed yesterday the significance of international coordination on Kosovo, in particular during the transition period.

At a meeting of the EU Troika with the delegation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the OSCE mission should continue to work and cooperate with the EU police and justice mission EULEX, as well as the special EU representative to be deployed to Kosovo by the EU.

Rupel, who chaired Monday's meeting, also spoke highly of the role the OSCE mission played in Kosovo, especially to the interests of the Serbian community.

Besides Kosovo, the South Caucasus, the Transnistrian region and Afghanistan were the main topics of the meeting.

The OSCE delegation was led by Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who presides over this organization in 2008.

Rupel stressed that both the EU and the OSCE should endeavor to ensure peace and stability in all these areas, and that cooperation between the organizations is of utmost importance while regular meetings contribute to this objective.

Concerning the situation in the South Caucasus countries, Rupelc onfirmed that the EU supports OSCE efforts within the Minsk Groupaimed at a peaceful, lasting and fair resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

He further expressed the hope that a meeting on the issue between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan would be held in the near future.

As regards Transnistria, Rupel expressed his satisfaction over the recent meeting between Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov, leader of the Transnistrian region.

On Afghanistan, Rupel said it is "undoubtedly" one of the EU's priorities.

He also stressed the importance of cooperation between the EU and the OSCE and the representations of both organizations in Afghanistan and Central Asia.