European Commission President Romano Prodi ruled out sending extra financial aid to Macedonia on Saturday, stressing that the European Union is "not the Red Cross".
However Prodi said he considered the Balkans had "virtual membership" of the EU and that the 15 nation bloc had a policy of "deep involvement" in the region.
He added that the EU wanted "to make of this area (the Balkans) a common economic area."
Prodi was speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the Balkans reconstruction agency in Salonica -- part of a trip he is making to Greece to mark the 20th anniversary of its accession to EU membership.
A high ranking Greek foreign official said the EU commissioner in charge of external relations, Chris Patten, had asked the agency to "examine the exact situation in Tetovo," where the Macedonian army has been fighting Albanian rebels for neary a month.
The agency is planning to send a mission to the area in the next few days -- SALONICA, Greece (AFP)
