Brussels, 26/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - Before welcoming the Croatian President in Brussels on Thursday morning, the European Parliament observed a one minute silence as a tribute to the president of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski, who died that day when the plane carrying him to Bosnia crashed. "I am deeply shocked and saddened by this information", European Parliament President Pat Cox said. He remembered Mr Trajkovski who had been "a friend personally and politically for many years". "He was a reconciler in his region", President Cox said, adding that the best way to pay tribute to Mr Trajkovski is to "keep his vision alive" for a region reconciled.