Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Croatian Premier Jadranka Kosor and Serbian President Boris Tadic held informal meetings in view of the conference on the European prospects of the western Balkans set for March 20 in Brdo in Slovenia.

"The informal meeting has the aim of bringing together the positions of the three countries in view of the conference on March 20 entitled 'Together for the European Union - the contribution of the western Balkans to the European future', reads a statement from Premier Pahor, in which it is however not specified whether the meetings today will be bilateral or whether there will also be three-way talks.

The meeting took place in the town of Ptuj, not far from the Slovenian-Croatian border.

The conference on March 20, which is promoted by the governments in Ljubljana and Zagreb with the support of the European institutions, will bring together for the first time since the 1990s the political leaders of all the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania.

The Slovenian Premier confirmed that he is working to ensure the presence of Serb President Tadic and Kosovan President Fatmir Sejdiu.

Serbian diplomacy has refused to be present at official events where Kosovo is represented as an independent state, and insists that delegations from Pristina are seen as representatives of an international protectorate, i.e. of the UN interim administration mission (UNMIK).

According to the press, Pahor has found a compromise that would see Sejdiu as the representative of "UNMIK/Kosovo".

For now there has however been no official confirmation and the spokesman from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, Milan Balazic, has not been able to confirm the presence of the two presidents, adding that "attempts are underway" to organise this meeting.

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor expressed his expectations in Ljubljana that Friday's meeting with Serbian President Tadic and Croatian Prime Minister Kosor in the Slovenian town of Ptuj will be something special.

Commenting on the meeting of the three statesmen, Pahor said that they will use the occasion to discuss current relations in this part of Europe, as well as opportunities for economic cooperation between the three countries.

Pahor expressed satisfaction with the positive atmosphere in Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade regarding the meeting's importance for the safety and wellbeing of the three countries' citizens, Press Agency STA reported.