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| - Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Friday rejected an unofficial proposal for border changes in the Western Balkans, allegedly sent to the EU by his country's premier. Slovenian news website Necenzurirano on Thursday published a "non-paper", which proposes territorial exchanges to deal with "unresolved national issues of Serbs, Albanians and Croatians". Tense relations have persisted in the Western Balkans -- which groups Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia -- since the violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The document proposes the unification of Albania with Kosovo -- a former Serbian region with an Albanian majority -- as well as the adhesion of parts of Bosnia to Serbia and Croatia and the creation of a small Bosnian state that would have to decide whether to tighten its links with the EU or its ally, Turkey. "I haven't had nor have any knowledge about this document," Pahor told reporters. "I strongly reject any border changes because I don't think this could be achieved in a peaceful way," he added. Local media alleged that Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa handed over the document to European Council President Charles Michel in February. Jansa, who plans to host a summit on Balkan issues while Slovenia holds the EU rotating presidency from July, has denied handing over such a paper, saying he has not met Michel since last year. "Slovenia is seriously seeking a solution for the development of the region and an EU perspective for the countries of the Western Balkans," he said on Twitter. Necenzurirano said the authors of the document remain unknown but it could have been written partly in Budapest. Hungary's government did not return a request for comment. The Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, said in a letter to Michel Friday that the document's proposals had caused "serious destabilisation and concern in our country", according to his office. "Any further attempt to cross borders would jeopardise the peace in our country and in the region," he said, suggesting to the European leader that such initiatives must be nipped in the bud. Bosnia's nationalist Serb leader Milorad Dodik said Thursday that the idea to break up the country was not new and if Bosnia "cannot function, then we have to talk about a peaceful divorce". Slovenia and neighbouring Croatia -- which have both joined the EU -- declared independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991, opening the way for years of conflicts in the region that claimed more than 130,000 lives. bk-burx-jza/pvh
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