Greece -- which has traditionally been a friend of the Serbs -- says Belgrade's campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Albanian population in Kosovo is threatening the stability of the whole region.

The defence minister, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, said such massive expulsions were making changes to the borders of Yugoslavia more likely the longer they went on and NATO's air raids should be aimed at returning both sides to the negotiating table. He added that he would press for the admission of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania to NATO membership at this month's summit of the alliance in Washington. Mr Tsohatzopoulos was speaking after talks with Bulgarian leaders in Sofia.

The Bulgarian prime minister, Ivan Kostov, said if the Kosovo Albanians were denied the chance of returning home the whole international community would become accomplices to what President Milosevic was doing.